Illustration: Arabian Ornament, from Owen Jones The Grammar of Ornament, 1856.
Islam was able to create a near unique style that was to both complement and tie the diverse cultures that came under its umbrella, within one decorative style. Admittedly, there were regional variations, but on the whole the decorative work of the Islamic world shared more similarities than it did differences.
Jones introduced Islamic decoration as the eighth chapter of his 1856 The Grammar of Ornament, following on from Byzantium and before Turkish. It was the first chapter to feature Islamic decoration and was therefore more concerned with a slightly earlier period of the style, hence the title of Arabian Ornament.
Illustration: Arabian Ornament, from Owen Jones The Grammar of Ornament, 1856.
Jones was aware that the roots of the Islamic style lay in various previous long standing cultures, particularly Persian and to a lesser extent Byzantium, but there is no doubt that a separate identity was quickly found by the new religious culture which distanced it from any direct and long term influence.
Interestingly Jones noted that Christianity failed to promote a real decorative style that it could call its own until at least the twelfth or thirteenth century with the rise of Gothic. Before this period, Christianity had had to largely rely on the all-pervading Classical style of the Roman Empire, decoration that had been formed with a different set of cultural parameters in mind.
Illustration: Arabian Ornament, from Owen Jones The Grammar of Ornament, 1856.
As the title suggests, most of the examples of Jones Arabian ornament chapter were derived from examples in and around Cairo, many from the thirteenth century. This ties in with his interest in the Alhambra in Spain which was built at around about the same time. Jones drew certain analogies and comparisons between the two geographical areas of Islam. He did not see the decorative style of Cairo as being as accomplished as that of Moorish Spain, but he did admit that the decorative style of Cairo suffered from certain tainted elements of influence from a number of different cultures in the area. He saw a certain amount of reconstituting of Roman interior planning as interpreted through Christian Byzantium, whereas he tended to see Moorish Spain as more insular and therefore less tainted by outside forces.
Illustration: Arabian Ornament, from Owen Jones The Grammar of Ornament, 1856.
This interpretation of the merits of one style over another could well be the perceived truth as seen through the personal tastes of Jones, as the examples he placed in the book are truly elegant and balanced, though understated and tightly controlled. They may not have been as flamboyant as some of the examples of Islamic decoration shown in later chapters of his book, but Jones by including this earlier style of Islamic decoration, shows us that the culture showed a level of maturity at a much earlier stage of its development than could be said for some other cultures.
Illustration: Arabian Ornament, from Owen Jones The Grammar of Ornament, 1856.
One of the most important strengths of the Islamic decorative style over others has to be their lack of reliance on realism. Whereas some may see this as a handicap to an all encompassing decorative style, it does in fact liberate designers and decorators who are free to explore all forms of geometric and other abstractions, without the need to reproduce everyday images that tie the decoration into a framework of rules and regulations that surround the world of reality, rather than that of the imagination. Although certain elements of Islamic decoration do incorporate some aspects of realism, at least in the realm of flora and fauna, it is perhaps in the realm of true geometrical abstraction that it has really made its mark. The style has become associated with the pan-Islamic world and is a unique decorative part of that culture which also helps to expand the vocabulary of the decorative styles of other cultures, which was one of the main points underpinning Jones The Grammar of Ornament.
Further reading links:
Islamic Decoration and Ornament as seen by Owen Jones
The Grammar of Ornament: All 100 Color Plates from the Folio Edition of the Great Victorian Sourcebook of Historic Design (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
The Grammar of Ornament
Grammar of Ornament: A Monumental Work of Art
Islamic Designs for Artists and Craftspeople (Dover Pictorial Archive)
Islamic Designs for Cornice, Balcony and Mashrabiyah Decoration, from "Art and Industry" Giclee Poster Print by Jean Francois Albanis De Beaumont, 24x32
The Language of Pattern: An Enquiry Inspired by Islamic Decoration (Icon Editions)
Splendors of Islam: Architecture, Decoration and Design
Islamic Design (Dover Pictura)
Islamic Ornament
Ornament and Decoration in Islamic Architecture
Some Early Islamic Buildings and Their Decoration
Islamic architecture and its decoration, A.D. 800-1500;: A photographic survey
Islamic Designs in Color (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Islamic Designs (International Design Library)
The Abbasid Tradition: Qur'ans of the 8th to 10th Centuries AD (The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, VOL I)
The Art of the Islamic Tile
Islamic Patterns: An Analytical and Cosmological Approach
