Crimson & Teal & Lavender

Teal (dark, vivid) and Lavender (pale, medium) create the most dramatically value-contrasting pair with similar hue families (both in the cool-to-transitional range) — the dark richly saturated blue-green against the pale delicately botanical purple. The extreme value difference creates a specifically mysterious and romantically contrasting atmosphere. Against Crimson's passionate warm red, this becomes the most naturally Arts and Crafts movement palette — the palette of William Morris and the most celebrated Victorian decorative arts tradition.

The palette is the visual world of the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain — specifically the textile and interior design work of William Morris (1834-1896), the most influential figure in the Arts and Crafts movement and the most celebrated decorative arts designer of the Victorian era. The Morris palette: the deep vivid crimson of the most celebrated Morris & Co. textiles (particularly 'Strawberry Thief' — 1883, Morris's most celebrated printed textile design, featuring deep crimson-to-red birds against a blue-green ground); the dark vivid teal of the indigo-discharge printed backgrounds of Morris's most elaborate textile designs; and the pale delicate lavender of the floral elements in Morris's most complex wallpaper designs (particularly 'Acanthus' — 1875 — and 'Pimpernel' — 1876, where pale lavender flowers appear against deep blue-green grounds).