Modern Heritage

Modern Heritage: a mixed collection of three kinds of decorative art prints, Japanese woodblock prints, Arts and Crafts patterns, and vintage posters, chosen to sit together in modern interiors. The woodblock prints are shin-hanga landscapes by Hiroshi Yoshida (El Capitan, Mount Rainier, Athens), Kawase Hasui (dusk and moonlight scenes, 1930 to 1954), Shoda Koho and Shiro Kasamatsu. The patterns are by William Morris and Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo, with a plate from Owen Jones's The Grammar of Ornament. The posters include Art Nouveau designs by Paul Berthon, Henri Privat-Livemont and Leonetto Cappiello, a Ludwig Hohlwein travel poster, and film posters for Vertigo (1958), Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958) and Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961).

The woodblock landscapes suit bedrooms and living rooms, the patterns kitchens and dining rooms, and the posters hallways and home offices. All prints are museum-quality reproductions, available unframed or framed with low-glare acrylic glazing, with free shipping and import duties covered.

A globe-artichoke plant rises through the centre of a mirrored design, its spiky grey-green leaves curling outward. Four artichoke heads sit in pairs, the upper two with pale scaled bracts around russet cores and the lower two in russet and brown. Long-tailed golden birds perch beside the upper heads and red squirrels sit among the leaves to either side, all on an ochre ground scattered with small red flowers.

The original: Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo's design for an Artichoke, Birds and Squirrels textile, in bodycolour on paper, early 1880s. It was intended as a large-scale textile but never put into production, so the painted design is the only form the pattern took. It is in the William Morris Gallery, London, which received it in Mackmurdo's bequest of 1942.

Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo (1851–1942) was an English designer who founded the Century Guild in 1882 with Herbert Horne, working closely with Selwyn Image. The Guild's flowing, plant-based designs are often seen as forerunners of Art Nouveau, and the William Morris Gallery holds the largest collection of its work. Squirrels were a favourite motif of his, appearing again in his printed textile Bramble and Squirrel.

Each print is made to our Archival Museum Standards: a 12-ink giclée, printed to order. Unframed prints are made on Hahnemühle German Etching, a 310gsm matte fine-art paper. Framed prints arrive in a handmade solid-wood frame with low-reflection glazing, ready to hang. Ships worldwide with free delivery to 30+ countries.