WILLIAM MORRIS (1834-1896)

This carpet was commissioned by Alexander A. Ionides for the Marble Hall of his home at 1 Holland Park. 'Alecco' Ionides was one of the third generation of influential Greek merchants who had become British subjects and, like his father Alexander Constantine Ionides, was a major art patron and collector, notably of the Aesthetic Movement. He employed many of the major names of the style - including Thomas Jeckyll (see lot 109), Walter Crane (see lot 112), Philip Webb and William Morris - to convert, decorate and furnish his house. Ionides and Morris shared an interest in Middle Eastern design and Morris & Co. bought dyes for the colouring of his carpets from Ionides & Co, the family's textile firm. Of the original furnishings from the house, a piano by Burne-Jones, a Morris carpet and a tapestry by Morris, Webb and Dearle, are now in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.