A complete and unabridged full-color edition of the classic sourcebook
on ornamental design
First published in 1856, The Grammar of Ornament remains a design
classic. Its inspiration came from pioneering British architect and
designer Owen Jones (1809-1874), who produced a comprehensive design
treatise for the machine age, lavishly illustrated in vivid
chromolithographic color. Jones made detailed observations of decorative
arts on his travels in Europe, the Middle East, and in his native
London, where he studied objects on display at the Great Exhibition of
the Works of Industry of All Nations in 1851 and at local museums. His
aim was to improve the quality of Western design by changing the habits
of Victorian designers, who indiscriminately mixed elements from a wide
variety of sources.
Jones's resulting study is a comprehensive analysis of styles of
ornamental design, presenting key examples ranging from Maori tattoos,
Egyptian columns, and Greek borders to Byzantine mosaic, Indian
embroidery, and Elizabethan carvings. At once splendidly Victorian and
insistently modern, The Grammar of Ornament celebrates objects of
beauty from across time periods and continents, and remains an
indispensable sourcebook today.