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ORNAMENT o/ !ti" ARCHITECTURAL BOOK i UBLISHING COMPAN iw. r i^v^ HANDBOOK A ORNAMENT OF WITH THREE HUNDRED PLATES, CONTAINING ABOUT THREE THOUSAND ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE ELEMENTS, AND THE APPLICATION OF DECORATION TO OBJECTS By FRANZ SALES MEYER PROFESSOR AT THE SCHOOL OF APPLIED ART KARLSRUHE FIRST AMERICAN EDITION THE ARCHITECTURAL BOOK PUBLISHING COMPANY PAUL WENZEL AND MAURICE KRAKOW THIRTY-ONE EAST TWELFTH STREET, NEW YORK INTRODUCTION. [The term "ORNAMENT", in its limited sense, includes such of the Elements ofDecoratiou as are adapted, or developed, from Natural Foliage. These differ from the Geometrical elements, inasmuch as they are organic i. e. possessing stems, leaves,.t,flowers, &c., while the latter are inorganic. When merely drawn on paper, &c., and unapplied a foliated element is considered in the abstract as "Ornament". When applied to beautify an object it becomes an "Element of Decoration". The term "DECORATION" signifies the art or process ofapplying the various Elements to beautify Objects. It is also used to denote the completed result. Thus the artist, who is occupied in the "decoration" of a vase, may represent ornament upon it; and the ornament is then the "Decoration" of the vase. The "ELEMENTS" ofDecoration are: Geometrical-lines, Ornament, Natural-foliage, Artificial Objects, Animals, and the Human Figure. These may be considered as the "ingredients'"; and they are mixod, and applied, on various arrangements or "Features", according to certain acknowledged "recipes" which are termed "Principles". The "PRINCIPLES" of Decoration are not included in this Hand- book, as the limits of it allow only a brief notice of such Elements as have been in general use during the successive Historic-epochs.] Wherever the hand of man has produced any Decoration, be it INTRODUCTION. II original Invention, or only the arbitrary Variation of some familiar fundamental idea, the following will invariably be the case: (a) The decoration is produced by arranging and joining Dots and Lines, or by combining and dividing Geometrical Figures, in accordance with the laws of rhythm, regularity, symmetry, &c.; (b) It arises from the attempt of the decorator to represent the Objects of the external world. Nearest at hand for imitation, is organic Nature with the Plants, Animals, and Human form. But inorganic Nature also offers models: e. g. the forms of Crystallisation (snow-flakes), and the Phenomena ofnature (clouds, waves, &c.). Rich sources are also opened-up by the Artificial Objects which are fashioned by man himself. It ig obvious that all kinds of Elements may be used in com- bination: Geometrical may be united with Natural forms; and so on. Moreover it was easy for human imagination to combine details taken from nature into monstrous forms not found in nature, e. g. the Sphinx, Centaur, Mermaid, &c.; and Animal and Human bodies with plant-like terminations. If we collect, into groups, the bases or motives of decoration omitting what is non-essential and detached, we arrive at the classi- fication given in the following pages. Decoration is applied to countless objects; and the style may be very varied without being arbitrary; being determined, firstly, by the aim and the material of the object to be decorated, and, secondly, by the ideas ruling at different periods and among different nations. It is therefore obvious that it has a comprehensive and important domain. A knowledge ofit is indispensable to artists; and it is an instructive and sociologically interesting factor of general culture. The peculiarities which arise from the reciprocal relation of material, form, and aim, more or less modified by the ideas of the Age and the natural characteristics of the Nation, are termed the "Style" of that Period and Nation. The mention, of the Century and the Nation, gives a convenient method of labelling works of Art, which is now well understood; e. g. "17th century, Italian". The majority of works on ornament, arrange their material according to Periods and Nations; but the present Handbook, following the principles laid down by Semper, Botticher and Jacobsthal, is based on a system which is synthetic rather than analytic; and in- tended more to construct and develope from the Elements than to dissect and deduce. It contains three main divisions: Division I treats of the "Elements ofDecoration", or motives of which it is formed. Geometrical motives formed by the rhythmical arrangement of dots and lines, by the regular section of angles, by the formation and division of closed figures, are followed by the forms of Nature which are offered for ornamental imitation by the