Design for Acanthus furnishing fabric by William Morris. Pencil and watercolour on paper, 1879. William Morris Gallery, London. Courtesy of Two Temple Place and William Morris Gallery.
Great Hall of Two Temple Place from the South West. Photo by Will Pryce
Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris, Detail of The Romance of the Rose embroidered frieze, 1874-6. Embroidered by Margaret Bell and her daughter Florence, 1874-82, Copyright William Morris Gallery, London
Two Temple place, formerly called Astor house, was built by William Waldorf Astor in 1895. During his lifetime the house was used as estate office and his residence. The neo- Gothic building was designed by architect John Loughborough Pearson. Because there were no financial restrictions Pearson was able to use the best craftsmen and materials. All around the house we can see sculptures, reliefs and carvings from literary history. For example the main staircase is decorated with mahogany carvings about the characters from Dumas' "The Three Musketeers". The house is also very well preserved even though it got serious damage during the Second World War. This year the house was opened to the public as a gallery. The first exhibition "Story, Memory, Myth" consist of works from William Morris Gallery. Several of the works were made in collaboration with Edward Burne-Jones. The works include books, stained glass and tapestrie and pattern designs. The theme of the exhibition is inspired by the architecture of the building itself, which was designed to symbolize literature in addition to being representative of art, craft and architecture. I find that Two Temple place has perfect surroundings to Morris's works considering the context and simply visual side. I most liked the "Romance of the Rose" embroidered friezes where linen is embroidered with silks, wools and gold thread.
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