Owen Jones (1809-1874), leading designer, architect and design theorist of the mid-nineteenth century, is closely linked with the V&A. He is best known for his compendium of global pattern, The Grammar of Ornament (1856) in which he published his theory of design and selected examples of what he judged to be good ornament from other cultures and periods. Shortly after its publication, the Museum purchased all the original design drawings for the plates, as well as 62 copies of the book for distribution through the Government Schools of Art and Design.

A less famous, but also significant book produced by Jones was his Examples of Chinese Ornament selected from objects in the South Kensington Museum and other collections (London: S. & T. Gilbert, 1867) (NAL: 38041800167090), which contained 100 chromolithographs.

The introduction to Examples of Chinese Ornament gives details of the circumstances of the production of the drawings. Jones was allowed to borrow items from the collections of the South Kensington Museum and drew them ‘in the quiet of the studio’ in order to create the patterns. Unlike the preparation of the plates for The Grammar of Ornament, when Jones was assisted by other artists, for the Examples of Chinese Ornament, he worked alone.

The V&A is intimately connected with Owen Jones. In 1863 he was asked to design interiors for the Museum’s Indian Court and Chinese & Japanese Court, collectively known as the Oriental Courts (now Galleries 34 to 36) (see D.120 to D.121-1905, E.3607-1931 and others). Although now covered, exploratory conservation work has indicated that the decorative schemes still survive. The Museum also holds a substantial collection of material by Jones – about 170 designs on paper including designs for carpets, tiles, ceiling decorations, stained glass, wallpaper, interiors, and textiles, plus the complete set of 100 original design drawings for The Grammar of Ornament.