William Morris tapestry sketches fetch over £120,000 in Donnington

Four watercolour and pencil sketches by Philip Webb, drawn in 1886/7, were auctioned at Dreweatts Donnington Priory auction rooms yesterday.
Part of The Hodson Collection, the sketches were used as naturalistic studies for The Forest - a tapestry designed by William Morris, Webb and Dearle, which now hangs in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London and which was woven in 1887 at Merton Abbey.
All four sketches were sold above the guide price, including The Fox and The Hare - both estimated to fetch £4000 to £6000, The Raven (estimate £2000 to £3000) and The Lion (estimate £3000 to £5000).
The sketches were shown in 1934 at the Centenary of William Morris exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum,

London.
David Rees, Dreweatts’ director in charge of the Interiors sale, said: “It is very unusual to have a collection of this span and calibre which can be traced right back to the original purchaser.”
William Morris (1834 to 1896) was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and libertarian socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and English Arts and Crafts Movement.
He founded a design firm in partnership with the artist Edward Burne-Jones, and the poet and artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti which influenced the decoration of churches and houses into the early 20th century.