Purple Bird

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Designed by Charles Francis Annesley Voysey (English, 1857–1941)
Manufactured by Alexander Morton and Company
Scotland, Darvel

Purple Bird, c. 1899

Wild silk and cotton, complementary weft plain weave double cloth
297.1 x 116.5 cm (117 x 45 7/8 in.)
Repeat: 76.8 x 20.1 cm (30 1/4 x 7 7/8 in.)
Louise Lutz Endowment, 1989.561

Exhibition, Publication and Ownership Histories

Exhibition History

The Art Institute of Chicago, Department of European Decorative Arts, Gallery 50, July 1, 1991- February 20, 1992

The Art Institute of Chicago, Department of European Decorative Arts, Gallery 50, November 10, 1995- March 15, 1996

The Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, Revival and Reform: A Growing 19th Century Textile Collection, November 25, 1998–February 28, 1999

The Art Institute of Chicago, Department of European Decorative Arts, Gallery 50, South End, May 17- September 5, 2002

The Art Institute of Chicago, Regenstein Hall, Apostles of Beauty: Arts & Crafts from Britain to Chicago, November 7, 2009 – January 31, 2010

Publication History

Brandon-Jones, Linda et al. C.F.A. Voysey: Architect and Designer 1857–1941. London: Lund Humphries, 1978. P. 106.

Schoeser, Mary. Fabrics and Wallpaper Twentieth Century Design. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1986.

Parry, Linda. William Morris and The Arts and Crafts Movement. New York: Portland House, 1989. Pl. 44.

"Objects of Desire: Victorian Art at the Art Institute of Chicago." Museum Studies, vol. 31, no. 1, p. 85.

Judith Barter, ed., “Apostles of Beauty: Arts and Crafts from Britain to Chicago” (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago), 2009, p. 33, ill. 27, cat. 161.