Floriated Ornament

Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-1852)

Manufacturer: John Hardman & Company Silversmiths

London, 1849

Height: 13 3/4 inches x Width: 10 1/2 inches.

Rowland and Betty Elzea Collection

"Pugin's plea in this book was for designers to go directly to nature itself, as medieval designers had done, instead of making use of already conventionalised classical or antique ornament, which architects and designers had used since the period of the Italian Renaissance. He also felt that, to derive the greatest decorative value from natural forms, the structure of plants should be studied and exploited (as he maintained the medieval artists had done), instead of (as contemporary decorative artists were wont to do) painting realistic bunches of fiowers, etc., imitating a three dimensional effect in their decorations of flat objects. On this point, Pugin was in advance of the decorative theories of Owen Jones, Christopher Dresser, and William Morris." — Elzea, Pre-Raphaelite Era, pp. 18-19.

References

Elzea, Rowland and Betty. The Pre-Raphaelite Era, 1848-1914. Wilmington: Delaware Art Museum, 1976. No. 1-17.

Last modified July 1999