Christopher Dresser

Christopher Dresser (4 July 1834 in Glasgow – 24 November 1904 in

Christopher Dresser
Mulhouse) was a designer and design theorist, now widely known as one of the
first and most important, independent designers. He was a pivotal figure in the
Aesthetic Movement and a major contributor to the allied Anglo-Japanese or
Modern English style, both of which originated in England and had long-lasting
international influence.

Contents
Biography
Partial bibliography
References
Further reading
External links Born Christopher Dresser
4 July 1834
Glasgow, Scotland
Biography Occupation Designer
Dresser was born in Glasgow,
Scotland, of a Yorkshire family. At age 13, he began attending the Government
School of Design, Somerset House, London. He received training in design and
took botany as his specialization. He lectured on the new subject of Art Botany
to complete his studies before his appointment in 1855 as Professor of Artistic
Botany in the Department of Science and Art, South Kensington. He wrote a
series of articles that appeared in the Art Journal in 1857, "Botany as Adapted to
the Arts and Art Manufactures". In 1858 he sold his first designs.

In 1850 the University of Jena, Germany, where Schleiden held the chair,
Teapot, 1879
granted a conventional doctorate to Dresser on his submission of his books
Rudiments of Botany (1859) and Unity in Variety (1859) and a short paper on
plant structure; as Dresser did not attend the university his doctorate was awarded in absentia.

From this early date his design work widened to include carpets, ceramics, furniture, glass, graphics, metalwork, including silver
and electroplate, and textiles printed and woven. He claimed to have designed "as much as any man" at the International
Exhibition London 1862. As early as 1865 the Building News reported that in the early part of his career he had been active as a
designer of wallpapers, textiles and carpets, and the most active revolutioniser in the decorative art of the day.[1] He wrote several
books on design and ornament, including The Art of Decorative Design (1862), The Development of Ornamental Art in the
International Exhibition (1862), and Principles of Design (1873), which was addressed in the preface to "working men". In 1899
The Studio magazine found it was possible to quote this book "page after page and not find a line, scarcely a word, that would not
be endorsed by the most critical member of the Arts and Crafts Association today." In effect Dresser set the agenda adopted by
the Arts and Crafts movement at a later date.[2]
In 1873 he was requested by the American Government to write a report on the
design of household goods.[2]

En route for Japan in 1876 he delivered a series of three lectures in the

Philadelphia Museum and School of Industrial Art and supervised the
manufacture of wallpapers to his design for Wilson Fennimore. He was
commissioned by Messrs Tiffany of New York to form a collection, whilst in
Japan, of art objects both old and new that should illustrate the manufactures of
that country.[1]
Soup pot, 1888
In four months in 1876/1877 Dresser travelled about 2000 miles in Japan,
recording his impressions in Japan, its Architecture, Art and Art-Manufactures.
He represented the South Kensington Museum whilst in Japan, and was received at court by the Emperor, who ordered Dresser to
be treated as a guest of the nation – all doors were open to him. He was requested by the Japanese Government to write a report
on 'Trade with Europe'. His pioneering study of Japanese art is evident in much of his work which is considered typical of the
Anglo-Japanese style.

From 1879 to 1882 Dresser was in partnership with Charles Holme (1848–1923) as Dresser & Holme, wholesale importers of
Oriental goods, with a warehouse at 7 Farringdon Road, London,[3] next door to those of the American inventor and abolitionist,
Thaddeus Hyatt (1816–1901).

Between 1879 and 1882, as Art Superintendent at the Linthorpe Art Pottery in
Linthorpe in Middlesbrough he designed over 1,000 pots. If his ceramic work
from the 1860s onwards (for firms such as Mintons, Wedgwood, Royal
Worcester, Watcombe, Linthorpe, Old Hall at Hanley and Ault) is considered, he
must be amongst the most influential ceramic designers of any period. Much of
his other work remains to be identified, although wallpaper designs for
American, and textiles for French and German manufacturers have recently been
located. A significant Dresser collection is held by the Dorman Museum in
Middlesbrough. A Heritage Lottery Funded project[4] draws attention to this.

Some of Dresser’s metalwork designs are still in production, such as his oil and Christopher Dresser. Soup Plate,
vinegar sets and toast rack designs, now manufactured by Alessi. Alberto Alessi Persia Pattern, 1886 Brooklyn
goes so far as to say Dresser 'knew the techniques of metal production better Museum
than any designer who has come to Alessi'.[5]

One of his Old Hall designs is thought to have inspired Alan Garner's 1967 novel The Owl Service.[6]

Partial bibliography
Unity in Variety, as Deduced from the Vegetable Kingdom (https://books.google.com/books?id=Qf1GAQAAMAAJ
&pg=PR11). London: James S. Virtue. 1860.
The Rudiments of Botany, Structural and Physiological (https://books.google.com/books?id=J6JWAAAAcAAJ).
London: James S. Virtue. 1859.
Popular manual of Botany (https://books.google.com/books?id=msXRmgEACAAJ). 1860.
The Art of Decorative Design (https://archive.org/details/albumofnineteent00unse). Day & Son. 1862.
Development of Ornamental Art in the International Exhibition (1862)
General Principles of Art, Decorative and Pictorial, with hints on colour, its harmonies and contrasts (1868)
Principles of Decorative Design (1873)
Studies in Design (1875)
Japan, its Architecture, Art and Art-Manufactures (1882)
 Modern Ornamentation (1886)

References
1. Halén, Widar (1 January 1994). Christopher Dresser: a pioneer of
modern design (https://books.google.com/books?id=7L4LAQAAMAA
J). Phaidon Press. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-7148-2952-4.
2. Morley, Christopher (2010). Dresser's Decorative Design (https://boo
ks.google.com/books?id=XeFGtwAACAAJ). B.B. Cargin. p. 256.
3. "Christopher Dresser" (https://web.archive.org/web/2014121320055 Botany diagram, about 1855,
4/https://www.moma.org/m/explore/collection/art_terms/1616/0/0.iph Christopher Dresser V&A Museum
one_ajax?klass=artist). Archived from the original on 13 December no. 3968
2014. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
4. "What's New - The Christopher Dresser Project" (https://web.archive.
org/web/20160319192044/http://dormanmuseum.co.uk/whatson_new.html). Archived from the original on 19
March 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
5. Alessi, Alberto (2017). The Dream Factory: Alessi Since 1921 (https://books.google.com/books?id=5FzasgEACA
AJ). Rizzoli International. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-8478-4906-2.
6. "Benefactors – Chris Lynch" (http://www.theblackdentrust.org.uk/supporters_benefactors.php#cl). The Blackden
Trust.

Further reading
Flanders, Judith (2004). Inside the Victorian Home: A
Portrait of Domestic Life in Victorian England (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=8rML6yfTYNoC).
W.W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-05209-1.
Halen, Widar (1990). "Christopher Dresser and the
"Modern English" Style: His Later Designs for
Wallpapers and Hangings". The Journal of the
Decorative Arts Society 1850 - the Present (14):
10–15. JSTOR 41809171 (https://www.jstor.org/st
able/41809171).
Durant, Stuart. Christopher Dresser. 1993
Snodin, Michael; Styles, John (2001). Design & the
decorative arts: Britain, 1500-1900 (https://books.
google.com/books?id=3RPrAAAAMAAJ). V&A
Publications.
Whiteway, Michael (2004). Christopher Dresser: A
Design Revolution (https://books.google.com/boo
ks?id=GjdJAQAAIAAJ). V&A Publications.
ISBN 978-1-85177-428-9.
Lyons, Harry (1999). Ch. Dresser: People's Designer,
1834-1904, Exhibition by New Century, 2nd-19th
June 1999 (https://books.google.com/books?id=e
exJAAAACAAJ). Alastair Carew-Cox. ISBN 978-
0-9532801-1-7.
Emil Fonfoneata, Exhibition Catalogue of Christopher
Dresser (1834–1904) Pioneer of Modern Design,
13/10/2007 – 13/01/2008 – Design Museum Gent
– Belgium

External links
Works by Christopher Dresser (https://www.gutenberg.org/author/Dresser,+Christopher) at Project Gutenberg
Works by Christopher Dresser (https://fadedpage.com/csearch.php?author=Dresser%2C%20Christopher) at
Faded Page (Canada)
Works by or about Christopher Dresser (https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28subject%3A%22Dresse
r%2C%20Christopher%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Christopher%20Dresser%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22
Dresser%2C%20Christopher%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Christopher%20Dresser%22%20OR%20creator%
3A%22Dresser%2C%20C%2E%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Christopher%20Dresser%22%20OR%20descriptio
n%3A%22Dresser%2C%20Christopher%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Christopher%20Dresser%22%29%2
0OR%20%28%221834-1904%22%20AND%20Dresser%29%29%20AND%20%28-mediatype:software%29) at
Internet Archive
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