William de Morgan

Image 1: Tile by de Morgan

 

I am not sure if it was in the autumn of 1859 or the spring of 1860, when I was working in the schools of the Royal Academy, that a tall, rather gaunt young man arrived as a nouveau, who excited among us of a term's seniority some interest. He was an original, that was evident at starting. His capacious forehead denoted power, his grey eyes tenderness, his delicately formed nose refinement, and his jaw strength. But the commanding characteristic was unmistakably humour. He spoke with a curious accent, his voice, as if it had never quite settled to soprano or bass, moved with flexibility up and down the scale, and every sentence was finished with a certain drawl.  ...  This youth was William de Morgan. (Stirling, 1922, p. 9, italics in original)

De Morgan's life

William de Morgan was born in 1839 into a family of intellectuals. His father was the first Professor of Mathematics at the University College London, and his mother was a strong woman, who campaigned alongside Elizabeth Fry in the early 19th century to promote prison reform (the de Morgan Foundation, 2010). He began studies at the Royal Academy Schools in 1859, where he met William Morris and Edward Burnes Jones, who turned out to be lifelong relationships. Morris was, among other things, designing and producing tiles, but it didn't really become a success, until de Morgan took over the design around 1863.

In 1887 William de Morgan married Evelyn Pickering, who was also a highly respected artist. They were both very intelligent people, and involved themselves in many of the leading issues of the day. (the de Morgan Foundation, 2010)  Being a close friend of both William Morris and Edward Burnes Jones, placed William de Morgan at the heart of the Arts and Crafts Movement, and in 1888, de Morgan became a founding member of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society. (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000)


About art...

Many of his design are clearly influenced by Turkish and Persian styles (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000), which again shows that he had a general interest in the world, also further away than his own back yard.

Image 2: Peacock tile by de Morgan

In spite of producing fairly highly priced pottery and tiles, de Morgan never obtained a great financial success with his art. It wasn't until when he, at the age of 65, began writing novels, that he could ensure him and his wife a comfortable and secure old age. 



Me and de Morgan

William de Morgan's fantastical animal designs remind me of a child's wild imagination. It's like looking at something made by a child, who is exceptionally good at painting. And I love it. Particularly the dragon-like figures are something I really wouldn't mind having in my home. For most of his animals, I feel like he kept this childish playfulness, so that you just cannot help but smile when you look at it. This, mixed with great technical skills, make up a quite impressive collection of interesting works.


Take for instance this peacock (De Morgan, na). Looking at the plumage in the tail, I can't help being impressed by the attention to detail, he put in there. Following the bird's body up, my eyes are pleased by the elegant line it forms, and the feathers are as beautiful on the body, as they are in the tail. But what's this? Reaching the bird's head, it suddenly look utterly insane! I'm again back at smiling, and I feel that this piece of art is on my level, something that I can enjoy without having to treat it like God were inside it.

Image 3: Illustration by de Morgan

This red dragon-like creature (de Morgan, na) makes me look for little arrows with explanations of the different body parts and their function. Like my sister and I used to do when we were younger and competed about who could draw the coolest monsters. I love the asymmetrical eyes, that make it look like it's considering whether you're worth eating or not. Even after looking at it for quite some time now, I have let out a little chuckle every time I see it.

William de Morgan didn't only produce strange looking animals. He also spent a lot of his career producing tiles with patterns, that would form a larger pattern when put together. These patterns are all very pretty, but to be honest, I feel quite indifferent towards them. I know that they're meant as frames for other artworks, like for instance his more interesting animal designs, and for that purpose, I'm sure they're great, because they don't draw too much attention. Not mine anyway.



De Morgan private

I'm very impressed with the amount of different skills that William de Morgan is said to have had. According to the de Morgan foundation (2010) he, apart from producing pottery, had ideas for how to make grinding mills and other equipment for his workshop, he knew a lot about chemistry, worked on a new gearing system for bikes and developed telegraph codes. He even suggested to the Admiralty during the First World War, how to destroy U-boats. Quite a geek, if you ask me, but I think that these many talents and interests had a lot to say in all of his art. Having a deeper understanding of all those different areas, must mean that he had a general understanding of and interest in the world, and this shines through in his works. Think about it, he made tiles in not only one style, but any style from medieval to figural to scenic, or even art nouveau for that matter. And through all of these styles, I can still see that the same guy is behind it all.

De Morgan died in 1917, age 78, and he is still today considered the most important potter from the Arts and Crafts Movement. (the de Morgan Foundation, 2010)

Image 4: Owl tile by de Morgan

Sources:

Reference list:

Stirling, A. M. W. (1922) William de Morgan and his wife. New York: H. Colt and Company.

The de Morgan Foundation (2010) William and Evelyn de Morgan. Available at: http://www.demorgan.org.uk/de-morgans (Accessed: 13 November 2010)

The de Morgan Foundation (2010) William de Morgan. Available at: http://www.demorgan.org.uk/de-morgans/william-de-morgan (Accessed 13 November 2010)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2000) Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Available at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/23.163.2ab#ixzz154gxxhKL (Accessed: 13 November 2010)

Image list:

Image 1: De Morgan, W. (no date) Fantastic Bird [Tile panel] [Online]. Available at: http://www.williammorristile.com/demorgan_fantastic_bird.html (Accessed: 15 November 2010)

Image 2: De Morgan, W. (no date) Peacock [Tile panel] [Online]. Available at: http://www.williammorristile.com/demorgan_fantastic_bird.html (Accessed: 15 November 2010)

Image 3: Higgins, R. and Robinson, C. (2010) William de Morgan: Arts and Crafts Potter. Grand Britain: Shire Publications, front cover, illus.

Image 4: De Morgan, W. (1895) No title [Tile] [Online]. Available at: http://www.museumeducation.bedford.gov.uk/bedfordbytes/nature/images_nature/gallery_designed_objects/pages/C_1218_jpg.htm (Accessed: 15 November 2010)

Resources:

The de Morgan Foundation (2010) Available at: http://www.demorgan.org.uk/ (Accessed 13 November 2010) 

Mackail, J. W. (1899) The Life of William Morris.  London: Longmans, Green and Co. Volume 1.

Knaff, D. (1995) 'True to the Craft', Orange Coast Magazine, Nov 1995, p. 107.

De Morgan, W. (1906) Joseph Vance: an Ill-written Atuobiography. London: Heinemann.