Owen Jones and Leaves From Nature

Illustration: Owen Jones. Horse Chesnut Leaves from The Grammar of Ornament, 1856.

In Leaves and Flowers from Nature, Owen Jones sums up in the final chapter of his seminal and influential design and decoration book The Grammar of Ornament, the power of nature over all forms of architecture, design and decoration. With this final chapter, Jones was making sure that everyone who had purchased and read the book understood the nature and reasoning for the title and why Jones had felt it necessary to publish in the first place.

The Grammar of Ornament in some ways was laid out as a history of human decoration and ornamentation. Covering human civilization from Ancient Egypt to Renaissance Europe Jones reflected on the human relationship with nature. Throughout the twenty chapters and one hundred and twelve colour plates, the basic line of the narrative was one of how successfully or not each culture and era had interpreted its original inspiration, namely the natural world.

Illustration: Owen Jones. Vine Leaves from The Grammar of Ornament, 1856.

Although, to some extent this was a personal critique of the history of decoration and ornamentation, Jones did try to put at least a healthy and respectable element of objectivity into the experience, which allowed him to at least bring general attention towards design and decoration techniques that were outside of the familiar European context. By placing European, Islamic and Maori cultures along with a number of others within the same publication, and at least to a certain extent with the same emphasis, Jones although not necessarily opening any prejudiced or preconceived European eyes, did start to lay the foundations of what we see and appreciate today as the complex and infinitely layered patchwork of human culture.

Illustration: Owen Jones. Ivy Palmata and Common Ivy Leaves from The Grammar of Ornament, 1856.

In the final chapter of his book, Jones produced ten colour plates entirely devoted to the leaves of relatively common plants and trees. With these plates, he laid the emphasis on the direct interpretation of nature. The chapter explains that all the previous chapters in the book dealt with individual cultures and eras and their own often unique interpretations of nature which could be reinterpreted by contemporary designers within reason. However, Jones purposely laid the emphasis on direct and individual observation of the natural world as the only true starting point for all forms of decoration and ornamentation, from architecture to the multiple disciplined decorative arts.

Illustration: Owen Jones. Scarlet and White Oak, Fig Tree, Maple, White Bryony, Laurel and Bay Tree Leaves from The Grammar of Ornament, 1856.

 

In closing Jones hoped and also felt confident that although mid-Victorian decoration and ornamentation led much to be desired and was in many respects derivative and riddled with pastiche, the building blocks for a new interpretation, even a new era in architecture and the decorative arts, was truly imminent. However, he did also warn that unless nature and its observation was at the root of this new and expected era, it would come fail just as surely as that of his own era.

Which new era Jones was predicting is debateable as the emphasis on nature implies the near future Arts & Crafts movement. However, Jones also placed emphasis on the new Victorian innovation of building with cast iron, which implies a future that was to produce the Modernist movement, one that was to dominate the twentieth century and that of our own contemporary world, much more so than the somewhat insular craft movement. Perhaps Jones saw room for each aspect to develop, eventually producing a Modernist movement tempered by a pragmatic grounding in the merits and laws of the natural world. That this intertwining of Modernism and Arts & Crafts did not develop is perhaps one of the missed opportunities of the last one hundred and fifty years.

Illustration: Owen Jones. Honeysuckle and Convolvulus Leaves from The Grammar of Ornament, 1856.

Further reading links:
The Grammar of Ornament: All 100 Color Plates from the Folio Edition of the Great Victorian Sourcebook of Historic Design (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Owen Jones: Design, Ornament, Architecture & Theory in an Age of Transition
Decorative Ornament
Persian No 3, Plate XLVI, from The Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones Giclee Poster Print by Owen Jones, 12x16
Renaisance No 4, Plate LXXVII, from The Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones Giclee Poster Print by Owen Jones, 24x32
Grammar of Chinese Ornament
Moresque No 3, Plate XlI, from The Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones Giclee Poster Print by Owen Jones, 18x24
Arabian No 5, from The Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones Giclee Poster Print by Owen Jones, 24x32
Moresque No 4, Plate XlII, from The Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones Giclee Poster Print by Owen Jones, 12x16
Persian No 5, Plate XLVII, from The Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones Giclee Poster Print by Owen Jones, 12x16
Renaissance No 5, Plate 78, from The Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones Giclee Poster Print by Owen Jones, 24x32
Greek No 8, Plate XXII, from The Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones Giclee Poster Print by Owen Jones, 30x40

Wallpaper Design by Walter Leistikow

Illustration: Walter Leistikow. Wallpaper design and frieze, c1899.

The German fine artist Walter Leistikow also produced a significant amount of design and decorative work between the years 1897 and 1902. He was particularly involved in textiles, tapestry, stained glass, furniture and wallpaper design. The wallpaper examples shown here which were reproduced in an 1899 publication of Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration the leading fine art and decoration magazine of Germany if not Europe as a whole, are a clear and good example of his style.

Illustration: Walter Leistikow. Wallpaper design and frieze, c1899.

Leistikow was an important member of the Modernist art movement in Germany. In 1898 after showing work at the Royal Academy in Berlin for a number of years, a landscape by Leistikow was rejected as being below standard. This was a euphemism used by the establishment to denote the unacceptability of modern art. This rejection directly influenced the founding of the Berlin Secession, which very much like the Viennese Secession, soon proved more popular and entertaining than any of the establishment funded and sanctioned Royal Academy shows could ever be.

Illustration: Walter Leistikow. Wallpaper design and frieze, c1899.

Leistikow's approach to fine art was such that many of the new parameters used were seen to be more than appropriate when applied to the decorative arts. Therefore, during a relatively short period over the turn of the twentieth century, Leistikow produced work in both fine and decorative arts, hoping as so many did during this period, to blur the lines between the two art systems producing a genuine art that would be broadly inclusive of all aspects of the interior.

Regarding Leistikow's wallpaper design work during this period, it is one of originality, taking a definite fine art approach to the discipline. The work is refreshingly clean and contemporary and has little to identify it with some of the more obvious excesses of the Art Nouveau movement. It is interesting to note some of the elements that combine to make these wallpaper designs what they are. They can only be described as graphic in tone and quality and it must be remembered that Leistikow had been producing graphic artwork for the influential German Pan magazine since its first publication in 1895.

Illustration: Walter Leistikow. Wallpaper design and frieze, c1899.

Although Leistikow produced wallpaper design work for such a relatively short period of time and arrived at the discipline from a fine art perspective which is not always the best direction, he was able to produce work that should be seen as some of the leading design and decorative work not only in Germany, but in Europe in general.

Leistikow gave up design work in 1902 to concentrate again on his fine art painting. His reasoning was that he felt that the decorative arts could give a formulaic approach to creativity, which could well influence and reflect in his fine art work. It is unclear whether he meant that the two disciplines could not be combined, or at least work in some form of partnership as he had originally planned. However, he did not return to the decorative arts and died at the extremely early age of 42 in 1908.

Illustration: Walter Leistikow, 1903.

Further reading links:
Walter Leistikow, Landschaftsbilder (Ars Nicolai Galerie) (German Edition)
Walter Leistikow (1865-1908): Maler der Berliner Landschaft (German Edition)
Das Leben Walter Leistikows. Ein Stück Berliner Kulturgeschichte
The Berlin Secession: Modernism and Its Enemies in Imperial Germany
Die Berliner Secession: Berlin als Zentrum d. dt. Kunst von d. Jahrhundertwende bis zum Ersten Weltkrieg (German Edition)
Arts in Germany: German Art, German Art Just Before the Third Reich, Zero Foundation, Erwin Faber, Kunsthalle, Berlin Secession, Kunstmuseum
BERLINER SEZESSION (The Berlin Secession)
Wallpaper: A History of Style and Trends
Pattern Design: Period Design Source Book
Wallpaper and the Artist: From Durer to Warhol
Wallpaper, its history, design and use,
Wall Papers for Historic Buildings: A Guide to Selecting Reproduction Wallpapers

Beccadelli Workshops and Lace

Illustration: Beccadelli Workshops. Crochet lace design.

Lace design in Italy has a long and prestigious history with many areas of the country having their own specific styles, procedures and cultural input that has made the craft an intrinsic part of the decorative arts in Italy.

As far as the European revival of crafts in the latter half of the nineteenth century is concerned, Italy was just as much involved in the revival as any other area of Europe. As far as lace was concerned, the traditional lace making areas of Italy were having to compete with foreign revivals, state interventions and aggressive marketing techniques. Of particular concern was Italy's immediate northern neighbour, the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

State intervention at both the subsidised support and education level allowed the empires traditional lace making craft to be restructured and placed on a much more aggressive market led platform. This, in theory at least, was meant to give lace production a much securer place in contemporary Europe and hopefully a distinctly secure future for a craft that had always been at the mercy of subtle changes in fashions and taste.

Illustration: Beccadelli Workshops. Crochet lace design.

Austria in particular, encouraged professional designers to take on the task of updating the repertoire of lace patterns that were available to both the retail trade and the general public. Therefore, particularly at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century, a strong Art Nouveau theme became almost overpowering within Austrian contemporary lace. So much so that this form of lace style is often now associated with Austrian lace work of that particular period.

Italian contemporary lace of the same period tended to improvise and re-imagine the large lace vocabulary that the various Italian regions had at their disposal. Renaissance styles were particularly popular and although not necessarily as contemporary in feel as perhaps the Art Nouveau themed Austrian lace patterns, they proved an interesting and popular diversion from the overriding fashions of the day.

The three examples shown here were produced by the Beccadelli Workshops in Bologna sometime before the First World War. They are fine examples of crochet lace and although historically themed they do not necessarily take on the appearance of the pastiche. They are in fact decoratively superior to much of what was available in Europe at the time.

Illustration: Beccadelli Workshops. Crochet lace design.

The reintroduction of past styles does not always have to problematic and counter to the contemporary world that they find themselves in. Often the reintroduction can seem like a breath of fresh air, even giving a new perspective on cultural and decorative history with contemporary designers gaining inspiration and perspective from these past styles and patterns. Italy in fact became a source of fine period style decoration though without compromising its contemporary development or contribution to European art and design. Italy itself had a healthy, focused and enthusiastic attitude to Modernism, while still being able to balance its historical contribution to the European decorative arts.

While lace production has always had to struggle through difficult periods in its history with the craft often seemingly on an endless cycle of bust and boom, it is interesting the number of interventions it has had from some often high-level design teams. The period of the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century, very possibly saw some of the most challenging and interesting art and design interventions within the history of the craft. Italy being no exception saw a fundamental re-evaluation of its place in the history of lace development along with its contribution to the contemporary world of the decorative arts and crafts.

Further reading links:
Italian Lace Designs: 243 Classic Examples (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Italian Laces and Embroideries
Carmela Testa Variety #1- Italian Cutwork & Filet Lace c.1921
Old Italian Lace
Old Italian Lace - Vol. II.
Carmela Testa Variety #2 - Italian Cutwork & Filet Lace c.1926
Les Dentelles Italiennes aux Musées royaux d'art et d'histoire (Italian Lace at the Royal Museums of Art and History)
Collingbourne's #12 c.1912 - Italian Crochet Laces & Other Accessories
Italian Cutwork and Filet Lace No. 1
1914 Filet Lace Chart Pack Italian Renaissance Style Long Insertion Finished design measures approximately 8" wide by 82" in length
1916 Filet Lace Chart Pack Italian Renaissance Style Rectangular Pillow Insertions

Embroidered Panels of Selwyn Image

Illustration: Selwyn Image. Juno decorative embroidery panel design, c1880.

Selwyn Image was an interesting combination of clergyman and progressive designer. He co-founded along with Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo, the seminal Century Guild of Artists and was the co-editor of the equally inspired and inspiring Hobby Horse magazine, which was very much conceived as the mouthpiece of the Guild. Although Image had left a career in the Church of England in 1882, it was only a year before the founding of the Century Guild of Artists. The church always remained an important element in Image's life and this is born out by the amount of ecclesiastical imagery he produced throughout his career, which encompassed stained glass and embroidery in particular.

However, Image was not entirely tied to Christian themes when it cam to design work. These four designs for classically themed embroidered panels, which he produced between 1879 and 1880, were well received at the time and in fact fitted in effortlessly with many of the aesthetically inspired interiors that were becoming fashionable in Britain. Even those not entirely won over by the Aesthetic movement, its philosophy and admittedly, it's often staged posturing, admired the classically motivated work shown in these panels.

Illustration: Selwyn Image. Minerva decorative embroidered panel design, c1880.

Image produced four decorative themes for these embroidered panels, that of Juno, Minerva, Venus and Proserpine. All four were intended to be placed within a screen which could then be used either as an ornamental talking point, or to screen off an area such as a piano for example.

The simple and aesthetic quality of the design work, along with its classical references and relatively chaste ancient goddesses, appealed to the period. Embroidery was seeing a large expansion within the craft along with its increasing appeal outside of its often perceived remit of ecclesiastical vestments and church furnishings. Although these were still important and were to remain a vital source for embroidery for the rest of the nineteenth and well into the twentieth centuries, domestic embroidery was to see a vast expansion with decorative work appearing on bed and table linen, as well as cushions, stools, fire guards, even mirror frames.

Illustration: Selwyn Image. Venus decorative embroidered panel design, c1880.

Although embroidery was encouraged as being a particularly important female pastime, and Image, along with other leading artists and designers such as Walter Crane and William Morris, produced a number of designs and decorative panels that could be produced at home, more complex and larger pieces such as the four panels produced by Image, were often bought as finished decorative pieces in their own right.

Admittedly, cartoons produced for embroidery decoration, by their very nature, have to be clearly marked out with as little clutter and confusion as possible. However, it is interesting to note that Image had experience both in the stained glass and woodcut crafts, and so it is perhaps no surprise that these panels also tend towards a clear and defined imagery that would be expected within those two crafts.

Illustration: Selwyn Image. Proserpine decorative embroidered panel design, c1880.

Image was still a clergyman within the Church of England when he produced the designs for these four embroidered panels. He had been ordained and was a working member of the church. However, as his decorative and design workload became ever more important and consuming, he had to make the decision to retire as an active clergyman. Nevertheless, Image was still often referred to in the contemporary press as the Reverend Selwyn Image. Although Image was by no means the only clergyman to have had dual ambitions or at least dual enthusiasms, he is perhaps one of the most important reverends within English decorative arts history.

Further reading links:
The Aesthetic Movement
ART IN NEEDLEWORK (The Aesthetic movement & the arts and crafts movement)
An Aesthetic Movement Stained and Painted Glass Screen Giclee Poster Print by John Moyr Smith, 18x24
Artistic Circles: Design and Decoration in the Aesthetic Movement
The House Beautiful: Oscar Wilde and the Aesthetic Interior
An Ebonised Four Fold Aesthetic Movement Screen, English Circa 1875 Giclee Poster Print, 12x16 EVERYDAY ART (The Aesthetic movement & the arts and crafts movement)
Oscar Wilde & the Aesthetic Movement
The Aesthetic Movement in England
ART & HANDICRAFT (The Aesthetic movement & the arts and crafts movement)
Creating the Artful Home: the Aesthetic Movement
The Cult of Beauty: The Aesthetic Movement, 1860-1900. Stephen Calloway & Lynn Federle Orr, Eds
The New Painting of the 1860s: Between the Pre-Raphaelites and the Aesthetic Movement (The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art)
In Pursuit of Beauty: Americans and the Aesthetic Movement