William Morris – A short History
Page 7
Morris & Company Decorators at 449 Oxford Street. 1877 - 1919
The building in 2008
In the spring of 1877, the Firm opened a new Showroom at 264 Oxford Street (re-numbered 449 in February 1882 and now opposite Selfridge’s). Morris used to entertain clients in the offices above the shop. Morris also used the Showroom as a meeting place for the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings [SPAB] on June 7, 1877.
In the summer of 1878 Morris took a twenty-one year lease on Kelmscott House in London, keeping the “Kelmscott” name of the country Manor for their new London townhouse. The house had been built in 1790. The family moved into the house late in the year. Morris continued to stay at Kelmscott Manor at intervals.
Morris & Co. continued to thrive, supplying home furnishings to many clients. In November 1880 they again were asked to work at St. James’s Palace for another commission for redecoration. That job was completed in February of 1881 “happily, with good profit’, according to Morris, though other references indicate they fully completed the work in March of 1882.
The Firm showed their products at their Oxford Street showroom, as well as at special exhibitions in both England and in Boston in 1883-84. A carpet exhibit at the Oxford Street Showroom in 1884 was the impetus for Morris to write that he was trying “to make England independent of the East for the supply of hand-made Carpets which may claim to be considered works of art’.
