William Morris Gallery x Burleigh
Burleigh continues a long tradition of collaborations with brands and designers who share the values that lie at the very heart of our pottery making. William Morris Gallery has everything we look for in a collaboration partner. The Gallery and the team behind it are true champions of great British design. So, when they asked us to interpret the truly iconic Strawberry Thief into the medium of transfer-printed pottery, it felt like an exciting challenge for our designers to take on.
Burleigh is the very last factory to use this technique for decoration, so the task of taking this well-known and well-loved pattern and having copperplate engravings cut was a challenge for the Burleigh design team that took months of hard work. Strawberry Thief is usually seen in a multi-colour effect, and as our transfer-print technique is single colour, we gain variance in tone, texture and shade through the intricate marks within the engraving itself. This brings a fresh perspective to a well-known pattern, all achieved using a 200+ year-old technique. We hope William Morris himself would approve of the outcome, which shows off the details of the pattern, all within a single colour of blue which appears from a deep rich tone to a delicate pale hue across each piece.
Burleigh rises to the challenge
“Our pottery is handcrafted in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. Founded in 1851. Burleigh is familiar with the changing styles and tastes in home décor over the last 170 years; however, some designs remain ever popular and ever relevant. Many works by William Morris stand strong today, and the ethos of the man himself continues to resonate despite the long passing of time.
Burleigh adheres to values which produce items that are beautiful and useful. We use techniques that are, in some instances, unique to our factory. And we do this because we believe in what we make — its quality and its purpose. What could be more fitting for Burleigh than to celebrate the history of William Morris within our making process?”
Jemma Baskeyfield
Brand Manager, Burleigh
William Morris 1834-1896
An iconic artist, poet, writer and activist, William Morris believed that art should be for the people and by the people. He valued simplicity, utility and beauty, and championed nature as the source of all inspiration. A pioneer of the Arts and Crafts movement, his wallpaper and textile designs remain universally admired. 
Strawberry Thief
Designed in 1883, and originally in production between 1883 and 1919, Strawberry Thief was intended as a pattern for cotton fabrics to be used in the home. It is based on the thrushes which used to make regular visits to Morris’s home in Oxfordshire, Kelmscott Manor, raiding the strawberries in his kitchen garden.
It became one of Morris’s most popular patterns, despite being one of his most expensive, such was the love for its intricate design.
Strawberry Thief was printed on cotton using the indigo discharge method, where fabric first dyed indigo was then screen printed with discharge paste to remove the colour, creating white areas, and coloured discharge paste to add new colour. This complex technique was ancient, used often in Asia, and was known as a way to create highly detailed and intricate patterns in fabric printing.
Burleigh has taken the heritage and storytelling found within the Strawberry Thief design and translated it into an underglaze tissue transfer-printed pattern, also known for its ability to create incredible complexity, with depth of field and texture within pottery decoration.
Just like William Morris, Burleigh seeks the best way to create beautiful objects for the home, even when that involves time and skill, with the focus always on the outcome.
William Morris Gallery
William Morris Gallery is the only public museum devoted to Morris’s life and legacy. Housed in the Georgian villa in London that was his childhood home, the Gallery presents the world’s largest collection of his work through award-winning displays.
William Morris Gallery celebrates and upholds Morris’s principles by creating beautiful, useful products that are well crafted and sustainable. Every purchase supports the work of the Gallery, including its education, conservation and exhibition programmes.
Click this link to find out more about visiting William Morris Gallery in London.