Owen Jones (architect)

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A typical color plate from the Grammer of Ornament

Owen Jones (born February 15, 1809 in London , † April 19, 1874 in London) was an English architect and designer .

Life

Owen Jones was born in London on February 15, 1809, the son of his father of the same name, a wealthy fur trader and archeologist. After six years of training in Lewis Vuillamy's architecture office , he undertook an extensive journey to the Orient in 1832 . In Greece he met the young French architect Jules Goury , with whom he toured Egypt , Turkey and Spain . Together they create an extensive construction survey of the Alhambra in Granada , which Jones completed after Goury's early death from cholera in 1834 and published in two volumes in London from 1842 to 1845 ( Plans, Elevations and Details of the Alhambra ).

For the London World's Fair of 1851 ( Great Exhibition ) he was hired as "Superintendent of the works of the Exhibition" for the Crystal Palace , and he was also responsible for its design during the reconstruction of the Crystal Palace in Sydenham in 1853 . In connection with the work on this building, he became friends with Matthew Digby Wyatt .

In 1856 he published his most influential work “The Grammar of Ornament”, in which he established “general principles for the arrangement of form and color in architecture and the decorative arts”, represented by 100 colored plates in chromolithography with ornaments from all styles and cultures have been illustrated. Although he opposed the thoughtless copying of the ornaments in the preface, his work became a popular template for stencil painting . On the other hand, it also influenced William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement and thus the renewal of handicrafts in England.

Owen Jones died in London on April 19, 1874.

His importance does not lie in his executed buildings, but in his writings on the Alhambra and the grammar of the ornaments , which had a significant influence on the polychrome controversy .

Works

  • Plans, elevations, sections, and details of the Alhambra, from drawings taken on the spot in 1834 by Jules Goury, and in 1834 and 1837 by Owen Jones . Owen Jones, London 1842, Volume 1  - Internet Archive ; London 1845, Volume 2  - Internet Archive ; doi: 10.3931 / e-rara-9057
  • Designs for Mosaic and Tesselated Pavements , London (1842), digitized in the Google book search
  • Polychromatic Ornament of Italy , London (1845)
  • An Attempt to Define the Principles which regulate the Employment of Color in Decorative Arts . London (1852) Digitized in Google Book Search
  • Handbook to the Alhambra Court (1854)
  • Grammar of ornament. Illustrated by Examples from Various Styles of Ornament. One Hundred Folio Plates . London, Day & Son (1856). archive.org
  • One Thousand and One Initial Letters , London (1864) gutenberg.org
  • Seven Hundred and Two Monograms , London (1864)
  • Examples of Chinese ornament selected from objects in the South Kensington Museum and other collections London, S. & T. Gilbert 1867 archive.org .
  • Biographical Memoirs: Owen Jones . In: The Cambro-Briton , September 1, 1819, Volume 1, JSTOR  - Internet Archive

Web links

Commons : Owen Jones  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikisource: en: author: Owen Jones  - Sources and full texts
personal data
SURNAME Jones, Owen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Architect and designer
DATE OF BIRTH February 15, 1809
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH April 19, 1874
Place of death London