William De Morgan

Biography

William Frend De Morgan was born on November 16, 1839, in London, England, into a family with strong academic ties. His father, Augustus De Morgan, was a well-known mathematician and logician, and his mother, Mary, was a writer and social reformer. This environment nurtured William's early growth and sparked the intellectual curiosity that would mark his long career across many areas. He attended University College London and later trained as a painter at the Royal Academy Schools before focusing on the decorative arts.

De Morgan's friendship with William Morris was life-changing. They became lifelong friends, and De Morgan created designs for tiles, stained glass, and furniture for Morris & Co. from 1863 to 1872. This collaboration placed De Morgan in the middle of the Arts and Crafts Movement, which reacted against the industrialized, mass-produced look of Victorian times. While Morris promoted handcrafted textiles and wallpapers, De Morgan found his niche in ceramics and tile-making, eventually setting up his own pottery studio in Chelsea during the 1870s.

De Morgan's ceramics are known for their bright colors, complex patterns, and technical innovations. He worked hard to revive lustre glazes, which hadn't been widely used since the Renaissance, and developed high-temperature firing methods that created rich metallic finishes. His tiles often drew inspiration from medieval European styles and Islamic art, especially Persian and Iznik pottery, known for their complex designs and vibrant colors. Designs of galleons on stylized seas, fantastical birds, fish, and elaborate floral motifs were common, often designed to form larger, intricate compositions when put together.

He ran workshops in various places, including Cheyne Row in Chelsea and then in Merton Abbey, near Morris's own works, before starting a final pottery partnership in Fulham in the 1880s with architect Halsey Ricardo. His tiles were used in notable architectural projects, including P&O ships and interiors for important Victorian buildings. De Morgan married painter Evelyn Pickering in 1887, and they supported and collaborated with each other artistically for the rest of their lives.

In his later years, after closing his pottery business around 1905 due to health issues and financial troubles, De Morgan started a second career as a novelist. Starting with "Joseph Vance" in 1906, published when he was sixty-six, he wrote several well-received novels known for their humor, sentiment, and Dickensian character depth. Several became bestsellers in both England and America. He passed away on January 15, 1917, in Chelsea, leaving behind a notable body of work in ceramics, design, and literature.