Wallpaper
ca. 1852-1874 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Owen Jones (1809-1874) was a prolific designer of wallpapers. His designs drew heavily on his anthology of historic decorative motifs, published as The Grammar of Ornament (1856). However, unlike Pugin, Jones did not believe that one could simply reproduce past styles in a modern context. He believed that architecture and design should be of its time, but that it should look to the ornamental art of the past for inspiration. Though the forms he used were often naturalistic, he reduced them to flat forms in patterns based on his notion of ‘geometrical construction’. In his essay of 1852, ‘Colour in the Decorative Arts’ (published in George Shaw’s On the Manufacture of Glass), he wrote that ‘paper hangings should not call attention to themselves, but remain as a background for the paintings, engravings, and other art works’. Yet his wallpapers are characterised by strong colours in uncommon combinations, devised in accordance with his own colour theories.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Materials and techniques | Colour print on paper |
Brief description | Specimen of wallpaper with a design of formalised foliage creating a diaper-work effect, in red and black; Colour print on paper; Design by Owen Jones; Probably produced by Townsend, Parker & Co.; Within a pattern book (8337.1-184); Great Britain; ca. 1852-1874. |
Physical description | Specimen of wallpaper with a design of formalised foliage creating a diaper-work effect, in red and black; Colour print on paper; Within a pattern book (8337.1-184). |
Dimensions |
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Style | |
Credit line | Given by Miss Catherine Jones, daughter of the artist |
Object history | Given by Miss Catherine Jones, daughter of the artist. |
Subjects depicted | |
Summary | Owen Jones (1809-1874) was a prolific designer of wallpapers. His designs drew heavily on his anthology of historic decorative motifs, published as The Grammar of Ornament (1856). However, unlike Pugin, Jones did not believe that one could simply reproduce past styles in a modern context. He believed that architecture and design should be of its time, but that it should look to the ornamental art of the past for inspiration. Though the forms he used were often naturalistic, he reduced them to flat forms in patterns based on his notion of ‘geometrical construction’. In his essay of 1852, ‘Colour in the Decorative Arts’ (published in George Shaw’s On the Manufacture of Glass), he wrote that ‘paper hangings should not call attention to themselves, but remain as a background for the paintings, engravings, and other art works’. Yet his wallpapers are characterised by strong colours in uncommon combinations, devised in accordance with his own colour theories. |
Bibliographic references |
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Collection | |
Accession number | 8337:138 |
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Record created | March 14, 2003 |
Record URL |
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