The Adoration of the Magi

Commissioned directly from Morris & Co. by the South Australian businessman George Brookman, this is the only tapestry from the workshop of Morris & Co. made specifically for Australia. During a visit to the 1900 Paris International Exhibition, Brookman had seen Morris & Co. tapestries in the British Pavilion and was inspired to visit Merton Abbey, the home of Morris’s workshop. Taking four artisans two years to complete, The Adoration of the Magi finally arrived in Adelaide in 1902, where it hung in Brookman’s stately home, Ivanhoe, in Gilberton. Ten versions of this tapestry were ultimately made, making it the most popular of all Morris & Co. tapestries.

The key proponent of the British Arts and Crafts movement, William Morris, believed tapestry weaving to be the most illustrious of all the textile arts. Inspired by medieval and Tudor tapestry, Morris sought to re-create the grand-scale wall hangings of these eras to return colour, vibrancy and warmth to interiors. The Adoration was first designed in 1890 by Morris and his close friend and collaborator, Edward Burne-Jones, the latter designing the figures, while Morris worked on the floral ground, borders and other decorative details. Later versions, such as this one, had additional embellishments and floral detailing by 

J.H. Dearle, another of Morris’s collaborations.

Tansy Curtin, Curator of International Art Pre-1980