The Revolution Will Not be Industrialized

INSPIRED BY | MASTERS & MUSES | WORLD OF CABANA

The Unfinished Works, an extraordinary new collection of fabrics and wallpapers from Morris & Co., owes its debt to uncovered original artworks by William Morris and John Henry Dearle. Archived by The Huntington, California, these sketches and drawings have now been finished by designers at Morris & Co., keeping the master's Arts and Crafts rebellion alive. Mary Robbins explores the Unfinished Collection, and its renegade spirit. 

BY MARY ROBBINS | MASTERS & MUSES | 13 OCTOBER 2025

Fabrics from The Unfinished Collection, which cover Cabana Issue 24 © Morris & Co.

If you want to start a revolution, and honestly, who doesn't? Don’t accept the stated rules of the game. Think about materials, think about modes of production, and their impact on artistic integrity. This won’t work for all revolutions. If you are interested in overturning a government, you should stop reading now; you won’t find any helpful information here.

If you are curious about how norms in art and design can be radically reshaped, you are in the right place. Crucial to any proper and successful revolution is a clear idea of what you are rebelling against. You would also do well to have a leader of some sort—a person or several people who have a passionate ethos that will carry the clear message of transformation.

William Morris, for example, was an excellent manifestation of a post-industrial revolutionary. He was inspired by the social critic John Ruskin, whose writings denounced the impact of industrialization on creativity, social inequality, and the environment. Ruskin was a passionate advocate for craftsmanship in architecture and design, which is broadly what galvanized William Morris, his cohort, and his acolytes. Morris, along with the Pre-Raphaelite artists he befriended and the members of the Arts and Crafts movement he inspired, were aligned with Ruskin’s principles and worked to push back against what they perceived as the malign byproducts of the industrial age.

Fabrics from The Unfinished Collection, which cover Cabana Issue 24 © Morris & Co.

Many Victorians were exhilarated and energized by what they saw as the thrillingly modern advancement of their society. Morris saw a more insidious evolution—a world where working class people were reduced to and confined by soulless, repetitive tasks that had a fundamentally dehumanizing impact. He firmly believed that craft-based work made for not only better products but also better societal conditions and a generally more creative atmosphere. His thoughts on the matter were further confirmed when he and his wife, Jane (a leading muse for the Pre-Raphaelite painters of the day), moved into Red House, their Philip Webb-designed home, in 1860.

As they set about decorating the space, they found themselves unimpressed by the commercially available decorating options. So, as good revolutionaries, they flouted the staid status quo, and with the help of like-minded friends, they crafted pieces employing their own ideas about interior design. This undertaking was wildly successful, Morris experienced “the joy in collective labor,” and in 1861 he establish the interiors company: Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co., the initial iteration of what would, in 1875, become Morris & Co. “Everything was to be crafted by hand, a principle that set the company firmly against the mainstream focus on industrialized progress.” The handmade homewares that had largely been abandoned by most were passionately championed. 

This profound commitment to artistry involves cherishing and preserving craftsmanship, a concept that is wholly embraced by The Huntington, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. The Huntington holds more than 12 million items from the 11th to the 21st centuries. As a major research center, it is keenly aware of the importance of maintaining artistic legacies that it makes accessible to researchers, artists, and the wider public, in order to “support scholarship, foster learning, and inspire creativity”.

Fabrics from The Unfinished Collection, which cover Cabana Issue 24 © Morris & Co.

In 1999, through the Berger Collection, The Huntington acquired a vast trove of William Morris and Morris & Co. materials, an extraordinary array of “original designs and textiles, stained glass sketches and sketchbook pages.” Among these treasures were unfinished designs by William Morris and his successor, John Henry Dearle, remarkable sketches by these masters that had remained in their nascent, sleeping-beauty state until now.

Today, Morris & Co., in collaboration with The Huntington, has taken these wonderful wisps and echoes of the past and created new designs by picking up “the pen laid down by William Morris and John Henry Dearle to create The Unfinished Works.” Delving into The Huntington’s remarkable library of documents, the design team has produced “handcrafted and unmistakably original designs across wallpapers, borders, fabrics, weaves, and embroideries”. 

Jess Clayworth, Lead Designer at Morris & Co., notes that this collection “is a unique chapter in the Morris & Co. story. As artists, we’ve asked ourselves not what we should do, but what we can do to preserve, refine, and complete these exquisite pieces of archival art, making them relevant not only to today but also to the future as part of art history.” Also alive and well is the artisanal rigor, the refusal to bow to convention, and above all the feisty, adventurous spirit of Morris and his fellow artistic rebels.

Long live the Revolution.

To explore more of Morris & Co.'s 'The Unfinished Works' Collection, click here.