The Grammar of Ornament

The Grammar of Ornament

Owen Jones

Bernard Quaritch, 1868.

Rebound in modern Moroccan burgundy leather. All edges gilt. Gilt spine. 6 raised bands. Fine binding and cover. Clean, unmarked pages. Chromolithographic plates. 157 pages illustrations, One hundred and twelve plates.  35 cm.

Owen Jones was a London-born architect and designer of Welsh descent. A versatile architect and designer, he was also one of the most influential design theorists of the nineteenth century. He helped pioneer modern color theory, and his theories on flat patterning and ornament still resonate with contemporary designers today. The first 19 chapters presented key examples of ornament from a number of sources which were diverse both historically and geographically - notably examining the Middle East in the chapters on Arabian, Turkish, Moresque (Alhambra) and Persian ornament. The final chapter, titled "Leaves and Flowers from Nature" acknowledged that "in the best periods of art, all ornament was based upon an observation of the principles which regulate the arrangement of form in nature" and that "true art consists of idealising, and not copying, the forms of nature". Christopher Dresser, Owen Jones' most well-known protege, contributed one of the plates in this final chapter, and he was concurrently presenting theories on natural-form ornament in his famous botanical lectures at the Government School of Design in the mid-1850s. In The Grammar of Ornament, Jones gathered together these samples of ornament as the best examples of decoration in an attempt to encourage designers to follow his lead in examining the underlying principles contained within the broad history of ornament and polychromy. (DNB)