Illustration: Textile design, 1840.
The Journal of Design and Manufactures may have only been published for a couple of years in the mid-nineteenth century, but it was felt at the time that it achieved much in its short life as was seen by many as a vital educational tool for designers, industry and the public at large. It is recognised today as one of the first major steps towards a perceived and fundamental understanding of the principles of design, decoration and pattern that would lead to the eventual overhaul of nineteenth century design standards.
The journal was edited by Henry Cole and Richard Redgrave. Cole, in particular, was instrumental in drawing attention to the fundamental issue of design reform within the industrial decorative arts field, where much of the newly mass produced work for the interiors market was considered woefully inadequate on a number of issues by most critics in and outside of the decorative arts.
Illustration: Textile design, 1848.
Cole was a driven man who had numerous projects and ambitions mostly concerning British industry and design. He was for example, the major driving force behind the staging of the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. There is some evidence to support the theory that the real purpose of the Great Exhibition as far as Cole was concerned, might well have been a way of publicly highlighting the inadequacies of a large proportion of British based design work and the industry itself. Although this may only be partially true, it is a fact that Cole himself was relentless in both his criticism of the low standards of British manufacturing design and the design schools and colleges up and down the country that fed that industry. That he spent a large proportion of his career trying to raise the educational standard of design by restructuring the design schools and colleges themselves, is perhaps one of Cole's most basic but long lasting achievements.
The journal itself was published in monthly instalments from March 1849 until February 1852. In its thirty six issues which interestingly spanned the run up to and aftermath of the Great Exhibition of 1851, it was overridingly concerned with the state of the decorative arts in Britain. Cole and Redgrave considered, with a range of detailed evidence, that the state of British manufacturing, whether for domestic or export markets, was of an appallingly low standard. The cavalier attitude taken towards design, decoration and pattern was staggeringly shortsighted and destructive, particularly when considering the higher standard being achieved by a number of European. The embarrassment and subsequent questions asked by Parliament as to Britain's relatively poor showing at the Great Exhibition, particularly in the field of design and decoration, was fed to some extent at least by Cole and Redgrave's influential Journal of Design and Manufactures. The publication consistently targeted all the relevant groups that would and could influence a reform of decorative standards, including designers, manufacturers and politicians.
Illustration: Textile design, 1849.
The textile designs shown here are some of the examples that were used in the journal. They were genuine examples produced by a range of British and European companies and were used as tools to illustrate the message of how to identify the aspects of good design and decoration. They were perfect examples that could be used to stress the right proportion, colour and texture that needed to be achieved in order to produce a surface pattern that was of the right compositional balance.
Although the journal certainly did not change the tastes of both the public and industry overnight, it is seen today as one of the first steps in the long path towards a functional and practical design reform. It pointed towards a much better understanding that could be achieved when addressing the role that decoration and pattern played in the textile world and how standards could be maintained and strengthened by a combination of an educated designer, industry and consumer.
Further reading links:
The Great Exhibitor: The Life and Work of Henry Cole (Victoria and Albert Museum Catalogues)
King Cole: A picture portrait of Sir Henry Cole, KCB 1808-1882
Manual of Design; Compiled From the Writings and Addresses of Richard Redgrave
Richard Redgrave C.B., R.A
Richard Redgrave, 1804-1888
Fifty Years of Public Work of Sir Henry Cole ... Accounted for in His Deeds, Speeches and Writings [Ed. by a S. and H.L. Cole]
A Hand-Book for the Architecture, Tapestries, Paintings, Gardens,
The Great Exhibition of 1851: A Nation on Display
Britain, the Empire, and the World at the Great Exhibition of 1851
The Great Exhibition, 1851: A collection of contemporary documents; (Jackdaw)
Lectures On the Results of the Great Exhibition of 1851: Delivered Before the Society of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce
The Great Exhibition of 1851 (Texts in Culture)
The Industry Of Nations, As Exemplified In The Great Exhibition Of 1851: The Materials Of Industry
