Four tile mosaic drawings from 'La Sala Las Dos Hermanas', Alhambra, Spain

Four small tile mosaic designs

One of a number of drawings of wall decoration in the Alhambra, museum numbers 9156.A to O. Bought from Mrs Jackson in 1883.

These drawings relate to Vol I Plate 42, Mosaics in the Hall of the Two Sisters in Plans, Elevations, Sections and Details of the Alhambra by Owen Jones.

Owen Jones worked as an architect and designer. After training under Lewis Vulliamy, he took his Grand Tour in 1832, travelling to Greece, Turkey, Egypt and Spain. With the French architect Jules Goury, he carried out a detailed survey of the Alhambra palace in Spain, which he published in 1842 to 1845. It is one of the first examples of chromolithography in Britain.

Designer, writer and architect, he was educated at the Academy Schools. He toured the Middle East and Spain in 1833 and 1834. He published 'Plans, Sections and Details of the Alhambra' in 1842.

Owen Jones (1809-1874) was a prolific architect, designer, illustrator and
printer who was recognised during his lifetime as one of the most influential contemporary figures in art and design theory.

In April 1834, Owen Jones visited the Alhamba, Spain, with his friend, the architect, Jules Goury. During their stay, Goury was a casualty of the severe cholera epidemic that had broken out in Granada and killed 10,000 people. After taking his friend's mortal remains to France, Jones was determined to complete their joint project to produce a full-colour architectural survey of the palaces. He subsequently published at great personal cost his two-volume work, Plans, Elevations, Sections and Details of the Alhambra, which featured 68 chromolithographic plates across both volumes, not including the frontispieces and finispieces.

9156F