One of the most significant tapestries woven in the nineteenth century are those of the Holy Grail Series by William Morris. Originally commissioned by an Australian mining engineer, William Knox D'Arcy, the tapestries formed part of a larger decoration for his dining room at Stanmore Hall. They represent the peak of Morris' career and are one of the most significant works to emerge from the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Portraying a legend

The designers of the six tapestries decided to create six panels that would complement high walls and windows, each panel telling different episodes of the Holy Grail story and with a second verdure section underneath decorated with flowers and telling the story of the picture above. The designers, Henry Dearle, Morris and Burne-Jones aimed to ensure maximum impact by deciding the pictorial tapestries would hang just below the ceiling moulding. The verdure would be displayed from the lower wall with shields of the various knights decorating the dado. Burne-Jones designed six panels taken from the Arthurian legend with the entire commission taking five years to complete. Dearle worked on the verdure with Morris designing the heraldry. Thomas Malory's poem, The Morte D'Arthur was the original inspiration for the panels and the legend is told through this detailed and exquisite tapestry. The Holy Grail is thought to be the cup from which Christ drank at the Last Supper and the one used following the Crucifixion to receive his blood. It was said to have been hidden for centuries, having been brought to Britain by Joseph of Arimathea and was the principal quest for the Knights of the Round Table. The first panel shows the Knights Being Summoned to the Round Table by a Strange Damsel, and dining with the King who is summoning them to the quest for the Holy Grail. To the left of the picture is the Siege Perilous; a chair draped with an inscribed cloth, reading 'Four hundred winters and four and fifty accomplished after the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ ought this siege to be fulfilled.' King Arthur is seated to the right of the chair, and in front of it is Sir Lancelot, with his hand raised.

In the Arming and Departure of the Knights ladies are shown assisting the knights in preparations to leave. Guinevere is shown symbolically handing Lancelot his shield as it is their affair and the subsequent betrayal of Arthur that leads to Lancelot's failure. Lancelot is again shown in the third panel failing to enter the Chapel of the Holy Grail. His way is barred by an angel as he is seen sleeping outside the entrance. The Failure of Sir Gawain is portrayed in a similar yet different way with an angelic figure preventing him from accessing the Chapel of the Holy Grail and a brilliant light is seen shining behind the door teasing with mystery and intrigue as to what lies beyond in an unknown world. A smaller panel known as The Ship signifies the action moving from one land to another and to the Isle of Sarras where the Attainment or the last panel showing the Holy Grail takes place. Here Sir Galahad is kneeling before the Holy Grail with the other successful knights.

Classical and timeless inspiration

Victorians were fascinated with the story of King Arthur and the legend found itself woven into poetry by Tennyson with the publication of Morte D'Arthur in 1842. Arthurian legend exuded chivalric values and romantic tales, values to which may early and mid Victorians aspired. Morris and Burne-Jones first read Malory's work on the Morte D'Arthur at Oxford as undergraduates and became entranced by the way in which it pierced their souls and influenced their work. "Nothing," Burne-Jones wrote, "was ever like Morte d'Arthur - I don't mean any book or any one poem - something that can never be written, I mean, and can never go out of the heart." At that time the majority of interpretation given to Arthurian legend in the arts was literary. When the Holy Grail tapestries were created they provided the inspiration for many other artists and designers. These included Charles Rennie Macintosh and M. H. Baillie Scott who went on to produce furniture similar to that in the first tapestry panel where the Knights have been summoned.

The Holy Grail Tapestries, like the Arthurian legends and William Morris are embedded in the culture and tradition of Britain and will always have a classical and timeless appeal as they give further inspiration to art and design in future.