THREE ENGLISH SILK EMBROIDERED PANELS, CIRCA 1890

John Henry Dearle (1859-1932) was a proficient designer of textiles, tapestries and stained glass. Dearle joined Morris & Co. in 1878, producing designs both in the manner of Morris, as well as his own style, inspired by Eastern aesthetics and historical textiles. As time went on his work became characterized by simplified two-dimensional interpretations of nature (L. Parry, William Morris Textiles, 1994, pp. 70-71). Dearle took over as principal designer at Morris & Co. upon Morris's death in 1896.
Embroidery pattern kits such as these could be purchased from Morris & Co. and completed at home or purchased already finished. These large floral panels were most often set into paneled screens, or, room dividers. Examples of screens with panels nearly identical to these can be seen in the Morris & Co. Embroidery Work catalogue, circa 1912, in the collection at the William Morris Gallery (cat. no. J2169), and as a fully worked piece in the collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum (accession no. CIRC.848-1956). For a nearly identical example see A. Mason, William Morris, London, 2021, p. 291.