The Grammar of Ornament

1868

Item

Volume disbound, chapters separated into 21 individual cardboard folders with the RSAN bookstamp on the front cover. Many of the leaves in a poor state. Plates 36, 41, 41*, 44-47, 54, 91, 95-96, 100 missing. Several leaves from another publication on ornament printed in Stuttgart found in folders along with a sheet of hand-painted floral designs probably from the RSN paintroom; currently stored in folder containing the preface and index.

Jones, Owen: Owen Jones was an architect, designer, illustrator and printer who, in his lifetime, was one of the most influential theorists of art and design. Involved in the Great Exhibition of 1851 and the founding of the South Kensington Museum (later the Victoria and Albert Museum) including designing the so called 'Oriental Court' he is perhaps best known for his publication The Grammar of Ornament (1856). Lesser known publications include Examples of Chinese Ornament and Plans, Elevations, Sections and Details of the Alhambra with drawings by Jules Goury and Owen Jones. These publications in the new technique of chromolithography were hugely influential for contemporary designers. The designers and stitchers at the Royal School of Art Needlework were also influenced and used Jones's patterns on occasion (see RSN/MS 136.8 - item 46) although the intention of The Grammar of Ornament was really to educate and inspire rather than as a stylistic source book, his books formed part of the school's library and paint room reference library.

Owen Jones and friend and colleague Henry Cole were both pivotal in organising the 1851 Great Exhibition, but they and others were disappointed with the standard of design in British Manufacturing on display there. Originally published in 1856 The Grammar of Ornament was part of Jones's attempts to improve art education for the masses and intended as a perpetual source of inspiration - in Owen's words 'An ever-gushing fountain'- for contemporary designers. Owen felt that, rather than stylistic revivals and imitations, Britain should be developing a new style for modern times. Jones' work should be seen in the context of empire and the colonial violence of the mid nineteenth century. His understanding of cultures is generalist and little distinction is made between regions, and while there is undoubtedly more respect and understanding demonstrated by Jones than many of his contemporary publications, as Olivia Horsfell Turner (p.38 Owen Jones and the V&A , Lund Humphries in association with the V&A) points out 'the ordering of the chapters in the Grammar seems to follow an idea of historical progress, which locates European culture in the dominant position. Although the peoples Jones described as 'Savage' were very much alive, he positioned them as if they pre-dated the ancient Egyptians'. In the Grammar of Ornament Jones was attempting to treat all styles to the same form of visual and textual analysis by extracting patterns from their output he hoped to show the universal tenants of 'good design' and influence the design education of the nation.

Printed in vibrant chromolithography, a relatively new technique in the 1850s, The Grammar of Ornament contains over 2000 motifs with sections on, among others: Medieval, Greek, Roman, Chinese, Persian, Indian and Celtic design, and was separated by 20 essays and 37 'Propositions' or design theory statements. It was what Olivia Horsfall Turner (see Owen Jones and the V&A) has called a 'Toolkit for designers'. Other contributors to the illustrations included: Christopher Dresser, Joseph Bonomi the Younger, James William Wild, Thomas Talbot Bury, James Charles Richardson, John Burley, Matthew Digby Wyatt, John Obadiah Westwood as well as draughtsman, including Albert Henry Warren and chromolithographer Charles Aubert.

The book contained 100 plates, this version is missing plates (36, 41, 41, 44-47, 54, 91, 95-96 & 100) and has been separated into chapters in folders covered with brown paper and marked with the chapter information and 'property of the Paintroom'. In this way it was easier for them to be used by the multiple workers in the Royal School of Art Needlework's (later the RSN) paintroom. Their use by the Royal School of Art Needlework is reflective of the school's place in the Arts and Crafts movement and in design education during this period. Part of the movement to improve standards in the government schools of design and in many ways embodying the principles seen in the setting up of the South Kensington Museum, they would have been used in institutions like the National Art Training School (later Royal Collage of Art). The Royal School of Art Needlework was very close to both the South Kensington Museum and the National Art Training School, both physically (located on Exhibition Road) and ideologically. Owen Jones would have continued to be a source of inspiration to students and designers at the Royal School of Needlework throughout the twentieth century.

For a complete digital version held in the Smithsonian Library see https://archive.org/details/grammarornament00Jone/page/n143/mode/2up

(Ref: Olivia Horsfall Turner Owen Jones and the V&A: Ornament for a modern age(Lund Humphries in association with V&A Publishing)

Books/Jo3