Utrecht Velvet

This fabric fragment is a copy of 18th-century patterns that were made in the city of Utrecht, The Netherlands. Velvet-like textiles were very much in keeping with 19th-century taste for reviving historical styles and, like other Morris & Co. designs, they had a long life span. In the late 1880s this pattern was chosen for upholstery in the Glessner House. In 1912 it was used as a wall covering in a first-class bedroom called the “Dutch Suite” on the ill-fated Titanic ocean liner.