Owen Jones (15 February 1809 – 19 April 1874) was a British architect. A versatile architect and designer, he was also one of the most influential design theorists of the nineteenth century. He helped pioneer modern colour theory, and his theories on flat patterning and ornament still resonate with contemporary designers today.
He rose to prominence with his studies of Islamic decoration at the Alhambra, and the associated publication of his drawings, which pioneered new standards in chromolithography. Jones was a pivotal figure in the formation of the South Kensington Museum (later to become the Victoria and Albert Museum) through his close association with Henry Cole, the museum's first director, and another key figure in 19th century design reform. Jones was also responsible for the interior decoration and layout of exhibits for the Great Exhibition building of 1851, and for its later incarnation at Sydenham. Jones advised on the foundation collections for the South Kensington museum, and formulated decorative arts principles which became teaching frameworks for the Government School of Design, then at Marlborough House. These design propositions also formed the basis for his seminal publication, The Grammar of Ornament, the global and historical design sourcebook for which Jones is perhaps best known today.
Jones believed in the search for a modern style unique to the nineteenth century, radically different from the prevailing aesthetics of Neo-Classicism and the Gothic Revival. He looked towards the Islamic world for much of this inspiration, using his studies of Islamic decoration at the Alhambra to develop theories on flat patterning, geometry and abstraction in ornament.
Family background
Jones was born on 15 February 1809 at 148 Thames Street, London the son of Owen Jones (1741–1814), a successful furrier and amateur Welsh antiquary, and his wife, Hannah Jane Jones (1772/3–1838). Being the Son of Owen Jones Snr. (bardic name of Owain Myfyr), a Welsh antiquary and the principal founder of the Gwyneddigion Society in London in 1770 for the encouragement of Welsh studies and literature, Jones Jnr. was born into a Welsh-speaking family at the heart of the Welsh cultural and academic societies in London.
Early travel
Jones embarked on a Grand Tour to the continent in 1832, having completed studies at the Royal Academy Schools, an apprenticeship with the architect Lewis Vulliamy (1791–1871) and with Vulliamy's consent, employment by William Wallen snr, thus gaining experience as a surveyor. He travelled first to Italy and then to Greece where he met the young French architect (1803–1834), who was assisting Gottfried Semper (1803–1879) with his radical studies of the polychromy of Ancient Greek buildings. Jones and Goury travelled together to Egypt to study the Islamic architecture of Cairo and the ancient sites, and continued on to Constantinople before finally arriving at Granada in southern Spain where they embarked on their studies of the Islamic decoration at the Alhambra.
The Alhambra
Jones's studies of the Alhambra in Granada were pivotal in the development of his theories on flat pattern, geometry and polychromy. His travelling companion, Jules Goury, had recently been working with Gottfried Semper on his analysis of the polychromy of Ancient Greek buildings, and this was very likely a key factor in Jones embarking on such a scientific and detailed appraisal of the decoration at the Alhambra. Goury died of cholera – at the age of 31 – during their six-month stay at the Alhambra, and Jones returned to London determined to publish the results of their studies. The standard of colour printing at that time was not sophisticated enough to do justice to the intricate decoration of the Alhambra, therefore Jones undertook the printing work himself.
Collaborating with chemists and printers, Jones took it upon himself to research the new process of chromolithography. He subsequently issued Plans, Elevations, Sections and Details of the Alhambra, in twelve parts over a period of almost ten years, from 1836 to 1845. It was the world's first ever published work of any significance to employ chromolithography, and was to be a key milestone in the development of Owen Jones's reputation as a design theorist.