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The Grammar of Ornament

A Visual Reference of Form and Colour in Architecture and the Decorative Arts - The complete and unabridged full-color edition
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Grammar of Ornament, originally published in 1856 by Owen Jones, is a seminal design treatise richly illustrated with chromolithographic colour. The book draws upon Jones’s extensive studies of decorative arts across Europe, the Middle East, and London, including exhibits from the 1851 Great Exhibition. It analyses a wide variety of ornamental stylesβ€”from Maori tattoos to Egyptian columns and Elizabethan carvingsβ€”with the purpose of refining Western design practices by encouraging more thoughtful aesthetic choices among Victorian designers. This enduring work remains a vital visual reference for appreciating ornamental design across cultures and eras.
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Format: Hardback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for design professionals, historians, artists, and anyone interested in the history and variety of global ornamental design. Those fascinated by architectural decoration and Victorian aesthetics will find this an indispensable sourcebook.

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The complete and unabridged full-color edition 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 de

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The complete and unabridged full-colour edition of The Grammar of Ornament was first published in 1856 and 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 colour.

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.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Reviewers highlight the book’s appeal to architects, design enthusiasts, and antiquarians, noting the delightful and accessible illustrations. Ted Loos from Introspective Magazine praises it as an excellent resource for understanding intricate decorative patterns from diverse cultures, making it suitable for casual browsing and serious study alike.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780691172064

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 26 July 2016

Country: United States

Imprint: Princeton University Press

Edition: The complete and unabridged full-color edition

Illustration: 2,370 color illus.

Audience: Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Width: 197.0mm

Height: 235.0mm

Weight: 1814g

Pages: 496

About the Author

Owen Jones (180974) was an English-born Welsh architect and one of the most important design theorists of the nineteenth century. He taught applied arts at the South Kensington School of Design in the 1850s and served as Superintendent of Works at the Great Exhibition of 1851. He was a key figure in the founding of the South Kensington Museum, which later became the Victoria and Albert Museum.

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