After yesterday’s post about articles in the V&A journal I went poking around the net a little further and discovered The Digital Library for the Decorative Arts and Material Culture houses an online copy of Owen Jones classic The Grammar of Ornament This book is beautifully illustrated and influences textile design to this day.
For instance have a look at the this page plate illustrating Persian pattern.
Go check it out this wonderful resource as it is beautiful and you can read/view it free.
Nice blog site….have visited your other sites as well…love your work!
BJ
What a wonderful resource! I had just seen a copy of Examples of Chinese Ornament in a local charity shop and not bought it-I was in a hurry! Now I can access both on line. Thank you.
Sharon, thank you for the links, I am amazed I did not find these in all the years I have searched the wisconsin site. I spend hours looking at all these collections, often seeing simular design elements is different areas, the Mores/Alhambora and the Celtic collection seem to mirror elements, I love the early Assyrian plates. Rene
I’m glad to see this book is now "online." It has been a staple on my bookshelf for many years – nice, fat little book, and I refer to it often in my needlepoint design.
I love this book having borrowed it (a reprint) from the library before – had no idea it was on the web so thanks for sharing Sharon!
great link thanks!
neki desu
Thanks Laura for the heads up on these
Such a wonderful resource, I have often seen this book listed as a reference but never seen a copy. Many thanks for the link.
Two other good design books I’ve found online:
In the NYPL Digital Gallery:
L’ornement polychrome…motifs de tous les styles, art ancien et asiatique, Moyen Age, Renaissance, XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles… (Handbook of Ornaments in Color) by A. Racinet.
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?parent_id=169639&word=
At HEARTH (Home Economics Archive: Research, Tradition and History) at Cornell University:
Handbook of ornament: a grammar of art, industrial and architectural designing in all its branches, for practical as well as theoretical use. by Franz Sales Meyer
http://hearth.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=hearth;idno=4502568
The Meyer book is more theoretical than Owen Jones and Racinet, which show lots of images and examples.