The Grammar of Ornament (1856), arguably the most famous and influential chromolithographed book ever published, was the magnum opus of the English architect and designer Owen Jones:
A pivotal figure in the founding of the South Kensington Museum (later reorganized into the world's greatest museum of art and design, the Victoria & Albert Museum), Jones is widely considered the greatest chromolithographic designer of the 19th century. He rose to prominence on the basis of his studies of Islamic decorations at the Alhambra Palace, which studies he published in Plans, Elevations, Sections, and Details of the Alhambra: from drawings taken on the spot by the late M. Jules Goury and in 1834 and 1837 by Owen Jones....:
Published in twelve parts over a span of almost ten years (1836-1845), and later as a two-volume book (1842-1845), this work was the first title ever published to significantly utilize chromolithography, and it set the stage for Jones' Grammar of Ornament, which would arise from his involvement with the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations (London, 1851--the world's first world's fair).
Jones was one of the Superintendents of Works for the Great Exhibition, responsible not only for the interior decoration of the Crystal Palace within which it was housed, but also for the arrangement of its exhibits. His decorative scheme initially proved quite controversial, though such criticism eventually dissipated:
His work on the Great Exhibition brought Jones into contact with Henry Cole, who later would become the first Director of the South Kensington Museum. (Cole previously had modernized the British postal system, published a number of children's books under the pseudonym Felix Summerly, and had commissioned the world's first commercially produced Christmas card in 1843.) Cole arranged for Jones to present his design theories via a series of lectures, but both men became concerned that the London location might make it difficult for Jones' theories to receive the widest possible dissemination to students. Thus was born The Grammar of Ornament....
Over the course of several decades, Jones produced other chromolithographed titles, primarily for the publishers Day & Son and Longman & Co.:
But the greatest of all chromolithographic publishers wasn't to be found in Great Britain... he published instead from Boston (Massachusetts), where he not only would print one of the greatest of all chromolithographed books, but also would "father the American Christmas card"....
Recent Comments