Walter Crane (1845-1915) was born in Liverpool, England; the second son of Thomas Crane, a portrait painter and miniaturist. He was a fluent follower of the newer art movements and he came to study and appreciate the detailed senses of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and was also a diligent student of the renowned artist and critic John Ruskin. A set of coloured page designs to illustrate Tennyson's “Lady of Shalott” gained the approval of wood-engraver William James Linton to whom Walter Crane was apprenticed for three years (1859–1862).
As a wood-engraver he had abundant opportunity for the minute study of the contemporary artists whose work passed through his hands, of Pre-Raphaelites Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais, as well as Alice in Wonderland illustrator Sir John Tenniel and Frederick Sandys. A further and important element in the development of his talent was the study of Japanese colour prints, the methods of which he imitated in a series of toy books, which started a new fashion.
For more information on Crane, and for a series on his illustrated books, see "Walter Crane books" in the side index.
This is part 5 of a 6-part series on individual works by Walter Crane:
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| 1896 Daffodil and Bluebell looped pile Brussels carpeting in wool and jute James Templeton & Co. |
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| 1896 Lily, Pink and Columbine sample of Brussels carpet 137.1 x 68.5 cm V&A Museum, London |
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| 1896 Meadow Flowers wallpaper colour woodblock print on paper 96.5 x 55.2 |
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| 1896 Meadow Flowers wallpaper colour woodblock print on paper 96.5 x 55.2 |
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| 1896 The May Tree wallpaper frieze for Jeffrey & Co. 58.2 x 99.5 cm |
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| c1896 Ecclesiastical Embroidery design attributed to Crane linen and cotton plain weave with silk embroidery 149.9 x 160.7 cm Philadephia Museum of Art, PA |
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| 1897 'National' wallpaper for Jeffrey & Co. colour woodblock print on paper |
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| 1897 'National' wallpaper for Jeffrey & Co. colour woodblock print on paper |
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| 1897 'National' wallpaper for Jeffrey & Co. colour woodblock print on paper 142.3 x 105.4 cm |
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| 1897 Day Lily wallpaper colour woodblock print on paper |
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| 1897 Day Lily wallpaper colour woodblock print on paper |
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| 1897 Day Lily wallpaper colour woodblock print on paper |
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| 1897 Harper's Round Table No.1 November issue wood engraving |
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| 1897 Marcus Ward & Co. Calendar The printing and greetings card company, UK |
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| 1897-98 The Day Lily colour woodblock print on paper 74.5 x 50.8 cm |
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| 1898 Jugend cover of the German magazine |
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| c1898 Beauty's Awakening: A Masque for Winter and Spring Art Worker's Guild Costume Design tracings of costume design after Crane's originals |
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| 1899 Cockatoo and Pomegranate wallpaper colour woodblock print on paper 88.9 x 51.5 cm |
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| 1899 Design for costume for 'The Snowman' (Fairy Princess Ariella) body-colour on brown paper 36.6 x 27.9 cm |
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| 1899 Design for Costume for 'The Snowman' (Elves, Fairy-Architect & Builder) body-colour on brown paper 36.8 x 28 cm |
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| 1899 The Cause of Labour is the Hope of the World ©The Trustees of the British Museum |
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| 1900 Advertisement for a Lecture by Walter Crane in Budapest lithograph poster 30.1 x 22.8 cm Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA |
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| before 1900 The Corona Vitae wallpaper and frieze design process half-tone engraving on paper |
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| 1900 Britomart watercolour on paper Library of the Arts Décoratifs, Paris |
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| 1900 Lily wallpaper by Jeffrey & Co. colour woodblock print on paper 73.6 x 52 cm |
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| 1900 Lion and Dove wallpaper frieze colour woodblock print on paper 68.5 x 111.7 cm |
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| 1900 Rose Bush wallpaper colour woodblock print on paper91.5 x 54.6 cm |
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| 1900-01 Flora's Train Earthenware tiles with relief decoration and coloured glazes for Pilkington's Tile and Pottery Co. |
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| c1900 Correspondence Card process engraving 8.8 x 11.4 cm |
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| c1900s Programme for Grande Fête Française colour lithograph 13.9 x 24.1 cm |
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| 1901 Masque of Days pen and black ink over graphite on card © The Trustees of the British Museum |
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| 1902 Francesca wallpaper colour woodblock print on paper produced by Jeffrey & Co., England 89.5 x 51.5 cm |
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| 1902 Golden Pheasant furnishing fabric block-printed cotton 92.7 x 135.8 cm |
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| 1902 Golden Pheasant detail |
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| 1902 Golden Pheasant detail |
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| 1902 International Fraternity the True Basis of Universal Peace. A Souvenir of Labour's May Day, 1902 process engraving 27.4 x 14.4 cm |
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| 1902 Invitation Card process engraving 13.3 x 7.6 cm |
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| 1902 Laveno, Italy watercolour drawing on brown paper 43.4 x 33.2 cm |
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| 1903 Fruit wallpaper frieze colour woodblock print on paper by Jeffrey & Co. 53.3 x 105 cm |
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| 1903 Invitation Card process engraving 18.8 x 10.1 cm |
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| 1903 Iris watercolour design for a printed textile 90.2 x 43.2 cm |
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| 1904 Dulce Domum wallpaper colour woodblock print on paper 85.1 x 54 cm |
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| 1904 Dulce Domum wallpaper colour woodblock print on paper 85.1 x 54 cm |
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| Dulce Domum wallpaper colour woodblock print on paper 85.1 x 54 cm |
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| 1904 Myrtle Wreath wallpaper colour woodblock print on paper 83.8 x 57.2 cm |
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| 1904 Oak wallpaper corner-piece colour woodblock print on paper One of thirty-eight portions in different colour ways |
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| 1904 Oak wallpaper corner-piece |
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| 1904 Oak wallpaper corner-piece |