The Sweet Day Departed (AW54)

William Morris lived and worked at Kelmscott House in Hammersmith from 1878 until his death in 1896. It was the scene of his last great venture, the Kelmscott Press, set up in a nearby rented cottage where he produced exquisite, hand printed books.
As designer, artist, craftsman, poet, translator, printer and socialist activist, Morris’s talents and interests seemingly knew no bounds.
He was involved in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and his wife, Jane, became a favourite model for them, particularly for Dante Gabriel Rossetti, with whom she became very close.
But by the time William and Jane moved into Kelmscott House and owing to Rossetti’s drug dependence and increasingly erratic behaviour, the relationship had dwindled to letters and occasional visits.