Illustration: Celtic Ornament from Owen Jones The Grammar of Ornament, 1856.
In Owen Jones chapter concerning Celtic Ornament in his The Grammar of Ornament, he dealt mainly with the relatively narrow and recent history of Celtic Christian decoration, rather than the much longer and perhaps more rewarding Pagan phase of the culture. Jones saw the earlier phase as a crude preliminary to that of the Christian in which he saw book illumination as the high point. However, it has to be said that Jones published The Grammar of Ornament in 1856 when archaeological evidence was still in its very early stages and much of Pagan Celtic design work was yet to be discovered. Jones only had knowledge of one or two recent excavations, which were still at a preliminary stage, and therefore evidence of early Celtic decorative work was minimal to say the least.
To show where Jones own personal interpretation of Celtic decoration was, is the fact that he placed the chapter two thirds of the way through his book at chapter twenty five, immediately before the chapter dealing with both Medieval Ornament and Illuminated Manuscripts.
Jones was somewhat critical of at least a certain proportion of this later phase of Celtic decoration. He believed that some of the illuminated manuscript decoration had been copied by scribes that had perhaps not had a full understanding as to the intricacies of Celtic design and had therefore produced work that was perhaps of a lower standard than was expected and certainly lower than an exacting critic like Jones would have liked.
Illustration: Celtic Ornament from Owen Jones The Grammar of Ornament, 1856.
Jones was also interested in the various contemporary theories as to the origin of Celtic decoration and ornamentation. It was thought by some in the nineteenth century that the Celts must have derived their unique decorative style from sources outside Britain. It must be understood that during the period that Jones published his Grammar of Ornament Britain, including Ireland was being run from London by an English elite who saw themselves as the natural leaders and indigenous people of the British Isles. They were keen to marginalise and muzzle any group that appeared to show a prior claim to the islands. Therefore, the Victorians had many convoluted and complex theories and fantasies about the origin of the Celts, many of which implied that they were not truly indigenous to the British Isles, which would also mean of course, that they had no prior claim to the islands. Although Jones book did not cover the origin of the people, he did ponder as to the origin of the decorative style, with mention of a Roman or Byzantine origin, or even that of a Scandinavian one because of the similarities regarding some of the complex knotwork decorative techniques that both cultures shared. Jones himself was more inclined to think that the Celtic style was indigenous to the British Isles as indeed were the people and the culture and paid little heed to any of the fanciful theories concerning Celts and Atlantis to name just one.
Although the article concerning Celtic ornamentation was actually written by John Obadiah Westwood, it should not be seen as entirely separate from the ideas and theories of Jones himself. Westwood's article would not have strayed far from Jones own theories and assumptions. The overall name on the book cover would naturally have been that of Owen Jones, and therefore the reputation and integrity which were always a large part of Jones character, would have been at stake, not that of Westwood.
Illustration: Celtic Ornament from Owen Jones The Grammar of Ornament, 1856.
Further reading links:
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
Owen Jones: Design, Ornament, Architecture & Theory in an Age of Transition
Decorative Ornament
V&A Pattern: Owen Jones: (Hardcover with CD)
Celtic Borders & Decoration
Celtic Borders
Celtic and Old Norse Designs (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Knotwork And Spirals: A Celtic Art Workbook
101 Celtic Crosses
Celtic Alphabets (Celtic Design)
Celtic Designs and Motifs (Dover Design Library)
159 Celtic Designs (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Celtic Animals Charted Designs (Dover Needlework Series)
Celtic Design: The Tree of Life
Celtic Design and Ornament for Calligraphers
Celtic Design: A Beginner's Manual
Celtic Design: Spiral Patterns
