Morris & Co. produced this two-color design using a simple, age-old technique: the white pattern of rabbits and birds nestled among acorns and oak leaves was block printed with a substance that would resist the dye. When the fabric was immersed in a dye bath (seen here in red), the background—all of the unprinted fabric—absorbed the color to reveal the pattern in white.

Block printing using either a color or a substance that resists color (or a combination of the two techniques) was the standard method for all of Morris & Co.’s cotton fabrics.