You can watch a recording of our online talk exploring William De Morgan’s life, career and the Arts and Crafts tiles he designed for Bedford Park is available. The talk took place on 13 April 2020.
To access the recording, you will need to purchase a £5 ticket.
Please contact us on: information@bedfordpark.org.uk for details of how to pay and see the recording.
Speaker: Sarah Hardy, De Morgan Foundation Curator-Manager.
See below for details of this fascinating talk.
William De Morgan Arts and Crafts tiles in Bedford Park
William De Morgan was the premier ceramic designer of the Arts and Crafts movement.
He began his artistic career at the Royal Academy, before meeting William Morris and embarking on design, first with stained glass and then ceramics.
One of his earliest commissions was from Architect Richard Norman Shaw for Bedford Park, and his tiles can still be found in houses and the Tabard pub today.
Sarah Hardy discussed his life and his links to Bedford Park.
The talk including questions lasts an hour.
Speaker: Sarah Hardy BA (Hons) (Dunelm), MA Manchester, DipLCM
Sarah studied Art History at Durham University before obtaining her masters degree in the subject at the University of Manchester. Sarah is a Victorian Arts & Crafts specialist, having researched and written widely on the subject, including William Morris’s revival of embroidery, William Blake’s influence on the Pre-Raphaelites, Bookbinding and the Kelmscott Press and, most recently, William De Morgan’s use of mathematics in his ceramic designs for the De Morgan Foundation’s successful touring exhibition, Sublime Symmetry.
Sarah began her museum career in the education department at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, before working on interpretation at Helmshore Mills Textile Museum, Lady Lever Art Gallery, and Two Temple Place. Sarah then worked extensively on loans and exhibitions at the National Gallery and the British Library, where she completed the Institute of Art and Law Diploma on Law and Collections Management, before joining the De Morgan Foundation in 2018. Sarah is Curator-Manager of the De Morgan Foundation.
Images of the Bedford Park Daisy tile and the portrait of William De Morgan by Evelyn De Morgan: copyright the De Morgan Foundation.