This design by Voysey is from a watercolour drawing done in 1918 and was found in the archives of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Despite being first and foremost an architect, Voysey was also well known for his wallpapers and fabrics. He was ahead of his time in his desire to design ‘from the inside outwards’. In his essay ‘Ideas in Things,’ he argued for the total involvement of the architect in the planning of an interior down to the smallest detail; he created environments. Lioness & Palms depicts one such environment. The inspiration from nature is also typical of 19th-century designers, like William Morris, although there’s a very contemporary feel to this artwork. This design tells of time through its two colourways, Midday and Midnight. Night and day. Then and now. Here and there.

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