Chapter I: Front Matter

THE
PRINCIPLES OF ORNAMENT

_Frontispiece._]

THE
PRINCIPLES OF ORNAMENT

BY
JAMES WARD
HEAD-MASTER OF THE MACCLESFIELD SCHOOL OF ART

EDITED BY
GEORGE AITCHISON, A.R.A.
PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS

_NEW AND ENLARGED EDITION_

NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
153-157 FIFTH AVENUE
1896

RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED,
LONDON & BUNGAY.

EDITOR’S PREFACE

As Examiner on the Principles of Ornament at the Science and Art Department, I found there was no good English text-book on the subject, so the necessary information could only be picked up by extensive reading and independent observation, and these are not to be expected from young students. Certain parts of the subject have been admirably treated by Moody in his _Lectures and Lessons on Art_,--in fact I know of no book where the subjects treated show such keen observation and profound knowledge, but they are embedded in lectures on other subjects, and the book has no index. Having written the original Syllabus on the Principles of Ornament, I was disposed to write a text-book, had not other avocations prevented me. Last year Mr. Ward’s book on _The Elementary Principles of Ornament_ was sent me, and though it was a useful book and had a glossary, it contained some doubtful passages, and being printed from a course of lectures it was a little too discursive. In writing the new Syllabus this year I could not recommend it for a text-book as it stood, but as I thought it would be unfair to Mr. Ward for me to write a text-book after the trouble he had taken, I consented to edit a new edition. I may here say that I have left Mr. Ward’s musical comparisons as I found them, and have not revised his views on Ogham, and Runic, nor those on the symbolic ornament of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Siamese, Burmese, Japanese, Hebrews, Buddhists, and Brahmins.

GEORGE AITCHISON.

EDITOR’S PREFACE

TO THE SECOND EDITION

I have carefully revised the book without altering its substance. I have also added an Appendix containing a few remarks on the Orders of Architecture, with illustrations of some of the best classical examples; believing that this would be useful, not only to carvers and modellers who have to execute enrichments on Architecture, but to all students.

The ornamented parts of the Greek and Roman Orders, figure sculpture apart, show how two cognate nations, each with transcendent abilities but of an entirely different range, abstracted the beauties of plants, and conferred them on stone and marble to emphasize and adorn the rigid forms of Architecture; how the Greeks seized on the exquisite beauties of flowers, and adapted them, so as to retain the greatest purity of form, and used them in the most sparing way; while the Romans, or Greeks working under Roman dictation, used them lavishly to procure magnificence; and eventually were so prodigal with their ornament as to defeat the end in view, as little of the architecture was left plain; to act as a foil to the enrichment; while from the quantity employed no time could be spared to perfect the ornament.

The power of abstracting and applying the beauties of floral form seems now to be entirely lost. The great art of the present day seems to consist in copying nature as exactly as it can be copied in hard materials to make a colourable imitation; but in such a way that its highest beauties are lost.

Mr. Ward has added several illustrations which his experience shows him will be useful to students, and he has added an Appendix on the construction of some geometrical figures, and the methods of drawing conic sections and spirals.

GEORGE AITCHISON.

AUTHOR’S PREFACE

In the preface to the first edition of this book, I stated that the contents consisted of a series of class lectures given to art students. These lectures were not originally intended for publication. I was, however, strongly advised to publish them, and did so without any attempt at revision, under the title of _Elementary Principles of Ornament_. Although there are many excellent text-books on ornament published at the present time, there are none that exclusively treat of the theory, or what is known as the “principles of ornament”; this belief is shared with me by many of the principal art masters in the country, and by many gentlemen whose names stand high in the list of decorative artists, judging from the numerous letters and opinions I received after the publication of the first edition.

I was gratified to find that the book received a favourable recognition from the authorities of the Science and Art Department.

The present edition has been edited and revised by Professor Aitchison, A.R.A., the Government Examiner in the subject and Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy. To that gentleman I here desire to record my grateful thanks for his invaluable services in connection with the book, and, I am sure I shall be right if I add, the thanks of all students in ornamental art. Professor Aitchison has also written the new introductory chapter.

I wish here also to express my best thanks to John Vinycomb, Esq., F.R.S.A.I., for his valuable suggestions to me in the chapter on symbolic ornament.

The illustrations must only be accepted as blackboard diagrams, they are merely intended as aids in explanation of the text; more illustrations have been added to this edition, a few that appeared in the former edition have been left out.

J. WARD.

CONTENTS

PAGE

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. BY THE EDITOR 1

CHAPTER I

Definition of Ornament--Methods of Expression--Outlined, Flat, Coloured, Relieved, and Shaded Ornament--Definition of Arabesques 19

CHAPTER II

Elementary forms used in Ornament--Straight and Curved line Ornament--The Greek Honeysuckle, &c. 26

CHAPTER III

The Laws of Composition in Ornament enumerated and explained 40

CHAPTER IV

The Shapes and Decoration of Mouldings--Fluted and Reeded Ornament--Treatment of Floors, Walls, and Ceilings--Relief Work on Ceilings 50

CHAPTER V

Outline and Division of Surfaces--Proportion of Rectangular Surfaces--Spacing and Decoration of Circular and Curved Objects--Decoration of Various Shapes, of Planes and of Large Flat Surfaces--Abuses of Purely Natural Forms applied to Articles of Use--Application of Ornament and Materials in Wall Decoration 68

CHAPTER VI

The Six Classes or Great Divisions of Ornament 80

CHAPTER VII

The Application of Plants in Ornament--Plants Used in Historic Ornament--The Acanthus--Its Use by the Ancients in Capitals, Candelabra, and on Flat Surfaces--Modern Use and Treatment of the Acanthus 108

CHAPTER VIII

The Symbolic and Mnemonic Classes of Ornament 130

CHAPTER IX

Raphael’s Arabesques--Christian Symbolism--Comparison of Symbolic and Æsthetic Ornament 138