William Morris – Brer Rabbit

Description

Registered by William Morris in 1882, Brer Rabbit—often known as Brother Rabbit—is one of the crowning achievements of the Arts and Crafts textile movement. Inspired by traditional folk tales read to his daughters and influenced by 15th-century Italian silks, Morris created an enchanting, symmetrical woodland scene filled with paired hares, perching birds, and intertwined foliage. 

The crisp, white nature of the artwork stems directly from Morris’s mastery of the traditional “discharge” printing technique at his Merton Abbey works. Rather than printing colour on top of white cloth or paper, the fabric was first immersed entirely in a saturated indigo dye vat. Woodblocks carved with the pattern were then stamped with a special bleaching agent that discharged the background colour, leaving the intricate design standing out in crisp, natural, unprinted relief. 

Every element of this iconic discharge pattern has been painstakingly hand-drawn, restored, and proportioned to an authentic 1:12 collector scale. From the delicate plumage of the songbirds to the swirling acanthus tendrils, the artwork retains its sharp woodcut character, bringing genuine Victorian craftsmanship and timeless English country elegance to period miniature rooms. 

Printed on premium high-grade matt uncoated paper with an authentic non-reflective surface — eliminating glare and delivering an impeccably realistic, era-accurate look under scale lighting and photography.

Ideal Applications: Victorian and Edwardian nurseries, children’s bedchambers, schoolrooms, attic playrooms, country cottage parlours, and informal morning rooms or reading nooks.