Specimen of 'Moresque' wallpaper with stylized foliate design, in white, gold and greys; Colour woodblock print, on paper; Within a pattern book (8341.1-158); ca. 1852-74; Designed by Owen Jones; Produced by John Trumble and Company; England; Design registered 1858.

Specimen of 'Moresque' wallpaper with stylized foliate design, in white, gold and greys; Colour woodblock print, on paper; Within a pattern book (8341.1-158); ca. 1852-74.

Given by Miss Catherine Jones, daughter of the artist

Given by Miss Catherine Jones, daughter of the artist.

Owen Jones believed that creative contemporary design should build on the accomplishments of earlier times and othe cultures, and his extensive documentation of historic styles, published at 'The Grammar of Ornament' in 1856, had a major influence on his many wallpaper designs. The stylized curves of this pattern were inspired by the Islamic architecture he studied on his journeys to Spain and Istanbul and Egypt. Jones regarded such geometrical Islamic designs, which combined a sense of flatness with interesting pattern, as particularly useful for wallpaper. This is typical Jones design, flat, formal and austere, but given a textural interest by the liberal use of light-reflecting gold paint.
[Gill Saunders, 'British Design at Home', p.52]

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