Owen Jones (1809-1874) British architect & Designer

Owen Jones (1809-1874) was a British architect and ornamental designer. He studied at the Royal Academy in London and under the architect L. Vuillamy (1825–31).

Arabic influences

During the 1830s, he travelled extensively, mainly influenced by Arabic ornamentation. 

In the 1840s, he was a member of the influential Victorian artist and educator Henry Cole’s circle. He joined the Society of Arts in 1847 and served as Superintendent of Works at the 1851 Great Exhibition.

Sample of Works

Jones’ textile study, four articles, and approval of his design for the London shop front for Chappells, the music publishers, appeared in Cole’s Journal of Design the same year. In 1852, he was appointed joint director of the Crystal Palace’s decoration. The palace reopened in Sydenham in 1854 and featured his colourful designs for the Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Alhambra Courts. Jones’s particular design strengths were interior decoration, for which he produced carpets, wallpapers, and furniture.

Recognition

He received gold medals for projects shown at the International Exhibitions in Paris in 1867 and Vienna in 1873, after previously receiving the Royal Institute of British Architects’ gold medal (1857).

Books

Jones’s book The Grammar of Ornament (1856), which presented a vast selection of colourful and informative chromolithographic plates taken from a wide variety of cultures and periods to an international readership, was one of his most influential contributions. The concepts discussed in articles for the Journal of Design and lectures given at the Royal Society of Arts and Marlborough House in London formed the basis for this Grammar. An Attempt to Define the Principles which Should Regulate the Employment of Colour in the Decorative Arts (1852) and Plans, Elevations, Sections, and Details of the Alhambra (1842–5) were among Jones’s many other works.

Sources

Woodham, J. M. (2006). A dictionary of modern design. Oxford University Press.

Additional Reading

Hrvol, F. C. A., & Jones, O. (2006). Owen Jones: Design, Ornament, architecture, and theory in an age in transition. Rizzoli. Retrieved from https://amzn.to/3rgpSvR.

Jones, O. (2016). The grammar of ornament: A visual reference of form and colour in architecture and the Decorative Arts. Princeton University Press. Retrieved from https://amzn.to/2ZvNlhd.

Moser, S. (2012). Designing antiquity: Owen Jones, Ancient Egypt and the Crystal Palace. Yale University Press. Retrieved from https://amzn.to/3HWZOfd.

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