Thursday, October 8, 2009

Owen Jones and the Ornament of Savage Tribes

Illustration: Savage tribes Ornament from Owen Jones The Grammar of Ornament, 1856.

As part of Owen Jones 1856 publication The Grammar of Ornament a section dedicated to the ornament of 'Savage Tribes' is included. In fact, the first chapter and first three colour plates of the book belong to this section.

It is interesting to note what exactly Jones considered to be 'Savage' as opposed to civilized. He was quite specific as to the definition as all the images and text of the chapter concern themselves with cultures spanning the Pacific Ocean, with decorative pattern work from Hawaii, Fiji, Tahiti, New Zealand and New Guinea. What is more interesting however, is that although Jones did make certain references to Pacific Islanders being at 'an early stage of civilisation', a phrase which he repeats often throughout the first chapter of the book, he is on the whole positive and admiring as to the level of the craftsmanship that was used in order to produce the decorative work he displays in his book.

 Illustration: Handle of a Paddle illustration from Owen Jones The Grammar of Ornament, 1856.

However to be fair, throughout the nineteenth century there was a large amount of inbuilt racism and cultural snobbery that helped to fuel and perhaps more importantly legitimise the various European empires, but sometimes we can mistake a title such as Ornament of Savage Tribes, as perhaps a harsher slur than was meant. Jones was a product of his time and was no doubt indoctrinated into the ideals that European culture played in the grander picture, or at least as far as Europeans were concerned. However, Jones was relatively analytical for the period in his description of the ornamental works of 'Savage Tribes' and probably saw the chapter as an interesting stage within the context of human decoration. This does not change the fact that the chapter was firmly placed at the front of the book, strongly implying that Pacific Island culture and its decorative work was a forerunner to that of the more sophisticated work of cultures that followed in later the chapters of the book.That the sequence eventually led to Europe, which dominated the last five chapters of the book, was probably not a coincidence.

Illustration: Head of a New Guinea Canoe illustration from Owen Jones The Grammar of Ornament, 1856.

Today we might well find it puzzling that cultures in different parts of the world and from different periods in time could be placed in the order of importance that suited a particular continent of people, namely Europe. We would now see, or hope to see, that all human cultures have added their own significant elements to the greater human culture, all are legitimate and all should be judged as equal no matter whether they created palaces or lived in tents, produced reams of literature or had no written language, produced delicate porcelain or decorated bark.

 Illustration: Head of a New Guinea Canoe illustration from Owen Jones The Grammar of Ornament, 1856.

Owen Jones book is an interesting example of ideas and theories that are set within their period along with all the illogical and irrational elements that go to make up that time frame. No one is ever able to extract themselves entirely from their own cultural era and we should always be aware of this when flicking through the pages of books such as Jones The Grammar of Ornament.

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