ABSTRACT
In June 1860, William and Jane Morris moved into their newly built home in Kent; it was there that Morris discovered his vocation as a decorator. 'Brotherhood', was not a unique phenomenon for these young artists; it was, rather, part of a much larger set of cultural circumstances. The nineteenth century saw a great upsurge in young men's associations, such as debating clubs, literary societies and other social groups. These brotherhoods mimicked boys' clubs in their dual emphasis on nurture and competition, while performing particular tasks for the socialization of their members. This chapter considers William Morris's medievalizing relationship to Red House and its contents as akin to that between a child and his toys. It asserts that it was during these years and only the eight or nine years immediately following the Red House residence that Morris conceived of himself as a member of a brotherhood of artists — unlike his later self-definition as independent businessman and designer.
