Subject Area
Architecture, Art History/Criticism/Conservation
Abstract
Much of the growing scholarship regarding the once well-known nineteenth century architect, designer, printer, and design theorist Owen Jones (1807-1874) mentions one or both of his landmark publications, Plans, Elevations, Sections and Details of the Alhambra (1836-1845) or the Grammar of Ornament (1856), occasionally noting chromolithographic innovations made at their respective times of publication. However, scholars have not really looked at the physical manufacture of these influential books by Jones and how this printing process drives the project of translation from the Alhambra. The materials surrounding Jones, whether books in his library, the pencil or brush he holds or the walls of the Alhambra itself reflect the phenomenology of Jones’s practical design experience and insight due to his extensive first-hand knowledge from the Alhambra and chromolithography. Mostly treated separately by scholars, these two topics taken together provide the foundation for Jones’s design philosophy. This thesis analyzes the materiality and process of Jones’s earliest drawings and impressions made from the walls of the Alhambra to his multi-layered chromolithographic work, linking his most notable publications together while demonstrating how design theory is impacted by design process.
Degree Date
2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Department
Art History
Advisor
Elizabeth Eager
Second Advisor
Randall Griffin
Third Advisor
Abbey Stockstill
Number of Pages
211
Format
.doc
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Recommended Citation
Kendall, Rebecca, "From the Alhambra to the Grammar of Ornament: Materiality and Process in the Work of Owen Jones" (2024). Art History Theses and Dissertations. 24.
https://scholar.smu.edu/arts_arthistory_etds/24
