The Grammar of Ornament

The Grammar of Ornament, is universally regarded as the classic reference book on Victorian aesthetics, as well as an important visual synopsis of the major forms of decoration. It contains over 100 colour plates which beautifully illustrate a wealth of ornamental patterns from around the world, which spans a historical heritage from the Stone Age and Ancient Egypt to nineteenth-century Europe.

Owen Jones completed the Preface to the original edition of The Grammar of Ornament on the 15th December, 1856. In it he wrote “All that I have proposed to myself in forming the collection which I have ventured to call the Grammar of Ornament, has been to select a few of the most prominent types (of Ornamental Art) in certain styles closely connected with each other, and in which certain laws appear to reign independently of the individual peculiarities of each. I have ventured to hope that, in thus bringing into immediate juxtaposition the many forms of beauty which each style of ornament presents, I might aid in arresting that unfortunate tendency of our time to be content with copying.

the forms peculiar to any bygone age, without attempting to ascertain, the peculiar circumstances which rendered an ornament beautiful, because it was appropriate.”