Moresque No.4c

Owen Jones prints bring the bold patterns of the world's great decorative traditions into your home. Jones was a British architect and designer, one of the most influential design thinkers of the nineteenth century, best known for The Grammar of Ornament (1856), a sourcebook of ornament from ancient Egypt to the Renaissance. Our collection of fine art prints includes its colour plates, his Examples of Chinese Ornament, encaustic tile designs and decorative book pages.

About Owen Jones

Owen Jones was born in London on 15 February 1809, the son of a successful furrier and Welsh antiquary of the same name, and grew up in a Welsh-speaking family. He studied at the Royal Academy Schools and trained with the architect Lewis Vulliamy. In 1832 he set off on a Grand Tour through Italy, Greece, Egypt and Constantinople with the young French architect Jules Goury, and the two made a detailed study of the Islamic decoration of the Alhambra in Granada. Goury died of cholera there, and Jones returned to London determined to publish their work.

Colour printing was not good enough for the Alhambra's intricate patterns, so Jones researched the new process of chromolithography himself. His Plans, Elevations, Sections and Details of the Alhambra, issued from 1836 to 1845, was the first major book printed this way. He went on to design gift books, and for some thirty years made playing cards, stamps, menus and other printed goods for the firm of De La Rue.

For the Great Exhibition of 1851 he decorated the Crystal Palace in red, yellow and blue and arranged the exhibits, and he later designed the Alhambra, Egyptian, Greek and Roman courts when it was rebuilt at Sydenham. Working with Henry Cole, he helped shape the collections that became the Victoria and Albert Museum, and his design principles became the teaching framework of the Government School of Design. He died in London on 19 April 1874.

Style and Subjects

Jones believed that the nineteenth century needed a new style of its own, and he looked for its rules in the ornament of every culture. His plates are flat, geometric and richly coloured, built from repeating patterns, interlacing lines and stylised leaves and flowers. He argued that the best ornament everywhere is based on the principles found in nature, not on copying natural forms.

The Grammar of Ornament opens with 37 principles of form and colour, followed by chapters on Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Arabian, Turkish, Moresque, Persian, Indian, Chinese, Celtic, Medieval, Renaissance and Elizabethan ornament, ending with Leaves and Flowers from Nature. The collection follows the same journey, plate by plate.

Famous Works

• Plans, Elevations, Sections and Details of the Alhambra (1836–1845). The first major book printed in chromolithography, recording the Alhambra's decoration.
• Decoration of the Great Exhibition building (1851). His red, yellow and blue scheme for the Crystal Palace, seen by six million visitors.
• The Grammar of Ornament (1856). His famous sourcebook of world ornament in 100 colour plates, his most lasting legacy.
• Moresque No. 1, from The Grammar of Ornament (1856). A plate of patterns from the Alhambra, the decoration that shaped his ideas.
• Leaves from Nature No. 1, from The Grammar of Ornament (1856). From the last chapter, which traces all good ornament back to nature.
• Oriental Courts, South Kensington Museum (early 1860s). The Indian, Chinese and Japanese courts he designed for the museum that became the V&A.
• Examples of Chinese Ornament (1867). A book of Chinese designs from objects in the South Kensington Museum and other collections.

Decorating with Jones Prints

Owen Jones's plates are made for grouping. A set of three or six Grammar of Ornament plates, such as Egyptian No. 1, Celtic No. 3 and Moresque No. 1, makes a striking gallery wall in a hallway, staircase or living room, and their clear colours work in both period and modern homes.

The Chinese ornament plates suit a dining room or bedroom with a calm, Asian-inspired feel, and the Leaves from Nature plates bring pattern and greenery to a kitchen or garden room. Designers, architects and pattern lovers will enjoy them in a studio or home office.

FAQ

What is Owen Jones known for?

He is best known for The Grammar of Ornament (1856), a hugely influential sourcebook of ornament from cultures around the world. He also pioneered chromolithography with his Alhambra book and decorated the Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition of 1851.

What is The Grammar of Ornament?

It is a book of 100 colour plates showing ornament from Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Islamic world, India, China, Celtic Britain, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It opens with 37 principles of form and colour that became a teaching framework for design schools.

How did the Alhambra influence Owen Jones?

His study of the Alhambra's Islamic decoration in the 1830s shaped his ideas on flat pattern, geometry and colour. He later recreated it as the Alhambra Court at the Crystal Palace in Sydenham.

Was Owen Jones an architect or a designer?

Both. He trained as an architect but is remembered mainly as a designer and design theorist, whose ideas on colour and pattern still influence designers today.

Related Artists

• Christopher Dresser: Jones's best-known protégé, who contributed a plate to The Grammar of Ornament
• Matthew Digby Wyatt: shared responsibility with Jones for the Crystal Palace at Sydenham
• Gottfried Semper: architect whose work on Greek colour influenced Jones's travelling companion Jules Goury
• William Morris: Arts and Crafts designer influenced by The Grammar of Ornament