The Grammar of Ornament

Jones’ aim was not to produce general artistic views, but to provide scientific accuracy in making an exact and detailed record of ornaments and colored decorations consisting largely of flat bright colors in geometric patterns. He could not find any printer in London able to meet his requirements; with the help of lithographic printers Day and Haghe he set up his own lithographic press and trained his own workmen at his own expense, having to sell part of the Welsh estate left him by his father to pay the costs of printing. Jones’ first book, Plans, Details, and Sections of the Alhambra, was the first of many projects leading toward his magnum opus, The Grammar of Ornament.

Commentary by Ruari McLean.