The Home Beautiful: An Advertisement for Jeffrey & Co's Artistic Wallpapers, 1907

Advertisement for Jeffrey & Co. Artistic Wallpapers, 1907
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The Aesthetic movement’s mantra was “Art for art’s sake” and the idea flourished in the 1890s and early 1900s.  Around 1900, the English wallpaper manufacturer Jeffrey & Co. adopted the peacock—a favored motif of the Aesthetic Movement--as their logo to reinforce their association with the highest artistic standards in design.

Jeffrey & Co. proudly printed William Morris's wallpapers since 1864. Under the direction of their sole proprietor, Metford Warner (from 1871), they employed some of the best designers of the day - including Walter Crane, Lewis F. Day, B. J. Talbert and C. F. A. Voysey.

Here, we see an advertisement for Jeffrey & Co. from this end of this era--1907.  The company’s name is written in peacock feathers.