Perhaps the most famous leaf in architecture, the acanthus plant has caught the curious eyes of artists and designers across history. Just look at Greek and Roman architecture, and you’ll see on the Corinthian column’s capital a happy arrangement of the acanthus leaf. From a frantically frothy Rococo table leg to a flourishing Baroque chair cresting, there’s no denying it: the acanthus leaf has some serious staying power in the visual arts.
But William Morris, ever the visionary, saw that very same plant in a radically different way. He managed to cut its cultural ties of classical antiquity, and offer a new way for us to look at this leaf. He picked a new set of influences, studying the acanthus leaf borders on Medieval illuminated manuscripts and books of hours. But rather designing a staid imitation, he set these leaves into motion; dialing up the rhythm and pace of how these leaves curl, swirl, and sinuate together to create a design that had no precedent for his Victorian audience.
But this wasn’t just a stylistic shift for the representation of the acanthus leaf; when Morris designed Acanthus in 1875, it marked a turning point in his own artistic practice. Its larger scale, sweeping lines, and heightened sense of three-dimensionality make it a defining moment in his body of work at Morris & Co.
