Last Stages
As Morris pursued other interests, notably socialism and the Kelmscott Press, day-to-day work at the firm was delegated. Morris's daughter May became the director of the embroidery department in 1885, when she was in her early twenties. Dearle, who had begun designing repeating patterns for wallpapers and textiles in the late 1880s, was head designer for the firm by 1890, handling interior design commissions and supervising the tapestry, weaving, and fabric-printing departments at Merton Abbey
Dearle's contributions to textile design were long overshadowed by Morris. Dearle exhibited his designs under the Morris name rather than his own in the Arts and Crafts Exhibitions and the major Morris retrospective of 1899, and even today many Dearle designs are popularly offered as "William Morris" patterns.
On Morris's death in 1896, Dearle became Art Director of the firm, which changed its name again to Morris & Co. Decorators Ltd. in 1905. Dearle managed the company's textile works at Merton Abbey until his own death in 1932. The firm was finally dissolved in the early months of World War II.
Read more about this topic: Morris & Co.
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