Matthew Digby Wyatt and the Alhambra

Illustration: Matthew Digby Wyatt. Stucco detail from Sala del Tribunal, Alhambra, 1872.

In 1872 the English architect, designer and critic Matthew Digby Wyatt published An Architect's Note-Book in Spain Principally Illustrating the Domestic Architecture of That Country. It covered an extensive journey that Digby Wyatt had made to Spain in 1869. He had never been to Spain before, but he was obviously intrigued and duly came back with many personally drawn sketches, one hundred of which were added to the book. In many respects, the published book of 1872, contains only brief text descriptions, which duly accompany the illustrative plates. Perhaps the author thought that the architectural heritage of Spain should largely speak for itself, or perhaps he felt that by 1872 enough had been said about the architecture of Spain and so he needed to add very little as an extra.

Digby Wyatt's tour was extensive and relatively intense. He visited most, if not all of the cities and regions of Spain, including Granada from which the four examples that illustrate this article were produced. Although some of his sketches tend towards the vague, it is perhaps his close up illustration work of details found at the Alhambra that are the most interesting and informative.

Illustration: Matthew Digby Wyatt. Stucco detail from the Hall of the Ambassadors, Alhambra, 1872.

Digby Wyatt was obviously intrigued, both intellectually and creatively, by the decorative work that had been produced across the whole Alhambra complex and paid due respect to the Islamic craftsmen involved in the task of internal decoration that took generations to achieve. Interestingly, he often either quoted or guided his readers towards Owen Jones and his 1856 publication The Grammar of Ornament. This particular book had keenly championed both the Alhambra complex and Islamic decoration in general, particularly that work which centred around the Islamic culture of Southern Spain and North Africa.

Digby Wyatt and Owen Jones were close friends and both shared a passion for the broader history of the decorative arts that spread much farther than the often more familiar but narrower confines of Europe. Digby Wyatt contributed the text towards two of Jones chapters in The Grammar of Ornament, as well as being involved in a number of Jones projects including the reassembly of the Crystal Palace after its dismantling at the end of the Great Exhibition in 1851. Digby Wyatt produced three of the popular guides, the Byzantine and Romanesque court, Medieval court and Italian court for the new Crystal palace complex at Sydenham. It seems only fitting therefore that Digby Wyatt dedicate the book concerning his extensive sojourn in Spain to his friend Owen Jones.

'My dear Owen,

The last book I wrote I dedicated to my brother by blood; the present I dedicate to you - my brother in art. Let it be a record of the value I set upon all you have taught me, and upon your true friendship. 

Ever yours M. Digby Wyatt.'

It was a very generous and selfless dedication by a man who had every right to be proud of his own achievements but was more than happy to demure to the knowledge accrued by his friend and colleague Owen Jones. Unfortunately, two years later Jones died at the relatively early age of sixty-five. That Digby Wyatt himself was to die three years later at only fifty-six is all the more tragic. These two individuals were key elements in both the design reform movement, but also in the much more scholarly pursuit of the advancement of knowledge concerning the extensive history of the decorative arts.

Illustration: Matthew Digby Wyatt. Mosaic from the Hall of the Ambassadors, Alhambra, 1872.

By trying to understand and through that extend their own personal acknowledgement of the achievement of complexes such as the Alhambra, Jones and Digby Wyatt helped to make Islamic decoration in Europe an informed and much more accessible subject to both study and admire.

One of Digby Wyatt's particular aims in visiting Spain was to try to record what he saw as the fast disappearing architectural heritage of a uniquely creative region of Europe. Through revolution, neglectful indifference and sometimes deliberate vandalism, the often complex and intertwined history of Christian and Islamic Spain was surrendering to the modern world of the later nineteenth century. Many books such as Digby Wyatt's An Architects Note-Book in Spain were not necessarily published by strident conservationists who wished to see the protection of architectural heritage in all regions of the world, but more a case of records or glimpses of the surviving elements of a shared cultural heritage that was swiftly passing into oblivion.

Illustration: Matthew Digby Wyatt. Detail of glass inlay from the Hall of the Ambassadors, Alhambra, 1872.

Many in the nineteenth century saw much of what the general public assumed as fixed and intransigent aspects of the landscape, as in fact vulnerable and dangerously transient. Industrial Europe was fast engulfing areas within industrial and city landscapes, demolishing generations of architectural heritage often in a matter of a few years. That much was irrevocably demolished with the often enthusiastic consent of local authorities and centralised governments, was all the more distressing for those interested in any form of historical concept. That such writers as Digby Wyatt would not recognise much of England today, let alone Spain says much about government collusion with the less than tangible ideal of industrial, rather than creative progress.

Further reading links:
Matthew Digby Wyatt: The First Cambridge Slade Professor of Fine Art: An Inaugural Lecture
Fine Art; A Sketch of Its History, Theory, Practice, and Application to Industry
The Italian Court in the Crystal Palace (Crystal Palace Library Guides)
***RE-PRINT*** The history, theory, and practice of illuminating
The Byzantine and Romanesque Court in the Crystal Palace, Described by M.D. Wyatt and J.B. Waring
The Mediaeval Court In The Crystal Palace (1854)
Notices Of Sculpture In Ivory: Consisting Of A Lecture On The History, Methods, And Chief Productions Of The Art (1856)
**REPRINT** An architect's note-book in Spain : principally illustrating the domestic architecture of that country ... with one hundred of the author's sketches, reproduced by the auto-type mechanical process
Alhambra
The Alhambra (Wonders of the World (Harvard University Press))
ALHAMBRA OF GRANADA
The Alhambra

Textile Design by T Ackroyd & Son

Illustration: T Ackroyd & Son. Damask hanging, 1851.

In 1851, the Halifax company T Ackroyd & Son produced various damask hangings for the Great Exhibition in London. Textiles were significantly well represented by British companies who were probably at their most influential and most productive, though not necessarily most creative, point during the mid-nineteenth century.

Many different types of textile decoration and pattern were represented. However, a high proportion tended to follow French contemporary examples, some being little more than copies in their own right. During the first half of the nineteenth century, France still dominated European decorative arts, as it had through most of the previous century. Although national styles across the continent took steps to reflect and promote an indigenous contribution towards the continent's decorative arts, in practice most veered from straight plagiarism to heavy inspiration of whatever France was deeming to be popular and fashionable at that moment in time.

Although as stated, many examples of close French styling were represented at the Great Exhibition in 1851, many of them indeed from Britain, there was an attempt to expand the repertoire somewhat. A number of British textile companies took the opportunity that the Great Exhibition offered, by moving away from the slavish copying of French contemporary textile design. They instead proceeded to produce examples of work that were genuine attempts to broaden the scope of decoration and pattern work, more so than was perhaps usual for the textile industry, an industry it should be noted that always did and still does, err on the side of caution and the tried and tested.

One of the decorative styles that allowed movement away from the domination of French styling was that of the medieval, or gothic. This largely, though not wholly British innovation in decoration was often much broader and less concise than many critics and scholars would have warranted. Medieval often designated a loosely defined era, rather than a cultural or even geographical area. Therefore to many the phrase 'medieval' would also have included, by its very proximity to medieval Christian Europe, at least elements of Islamic decoration, particularly from those areas that interacted directly with Europe, such as Islamic Spain.

In that respect, the example shown in this article was directly inspired by decoration found at the Alhambra at Granada in southern Spain. T Ackroyd & Son were in fact at some pains to emphasise the fact that this particular textile pattern was designed in the style which pervades the Alhambra, and is carefully and exactly carried out, in strict accordance with its peculiarities. It was originally produced for the Great Exhibition in red on a rich and deep blue background, which unfortunately is not available to be seen apart from this black and white illustration from the Great Exhibition catalogue. However, it does give a very good indication of the somewhat divergent paths that French and British textile design were beginning to take and would take for the next half century, up to the introduction of Art Nouveau.

In some respects this often tentative, though sometimes ebullient gesture towards a form of independence from the French domination of European decoration, could be seen as the start of the growing confidence that could be found at least amongst the textile manufacturers, if not the retailers, of Britain. This confidence was to eventually introduce, as far as textiles were concerned, a whole host of British textile designers and those who at least worked partially within the industry during the 1850s and 1860s including William Morris, Christopher Dresser, Owen Jones, Bruce James Talbert, E W Godwin and many others. These names would in their turn help to perpetuate a largely indigenous style that would carry on throughout the remainder of the nineteenth century.

Reference links:
The Great Exhibition of 1851: A Nation on Display
Britain, the Empire, and the World at the Great Exhibition of 1851
Great Exhibition 1851 Mouse Pad
1851 Opening Great Exhibition Building Architecture
The Great Exhibition of 1851 (Texts in Culture)
Crystal Palace Mouse Pad
Echoes Of The Great Exhibition (1851)
London Life and the Great Exhibition, 1851 (Then & There)
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 World for a Shilling: How the Great Exhibition of 1851 Shaped a Nation
Journal of a trip to London, Paris, and the great exhibition, in 1851

Owen Jones and the Moresque

Illustration: Owen Jones. Moresque Decoration from The Grammar of Ornament, published in 1856.

In 1832 when Owen Jones was in his early twenties, he started off on a Grand Tour of Europe. The fact that the tour would take up possibly the most important two years of Jones life and culminate in the parameters that were to shape his future career shows how fundamental this early touring aspect of Jones life really was.

He started off with the mandatory visit to Italy, then moved on to Greece where he was to meet Jules Goury a French architect who became his travelling companion when the two moved on to Egypt. Here both young men were obviously intrigued by the remnants remaining from the Ancient Egyptian culture, as most were at the time and still are. However, what intrigued them most was the abundant Islamic pattern work that they discovered in Cairo.

Illustration: Owen Jones. Moresque Decoration from The Grammar of Ornament, published in 1856.

Cairo was never wholly part of the Ancient Egyptian world, or even that of Christian Egypt, but had been constructed as an Islamic statement. Although the city has now expanded and incorporated a number of settlements from various eras of Egyptian history, it is still counted as one of the great achievements of the Islamic world. Both Jones and Goury studied the complex and wide ranging examples of Islamic decoration that could be found in the capital of Egypt, and in some respects, this exploration helped to form ideas about surface pattern, decoration and ornamentation and the way that geometry and the abstraction from the real world played such a large role in Islamic decoration.

When Jones and Goury moved on via Constantinople to Spain, it was the Islamic period of the Iberian peninsulas history that drew them to Granada and inevitably the Alhambra. Although still relatively early as far as travel and exploration within the nineteenth century was concerned, the two young men were by no means the only visitors to what many see as one of the high points of Islamic architectural and decorative achievement. A number of writers and travellers had visited the Alhambra and literature on the subject, while not necessarily extensive in the early part of the nineteenth century, was still readily available. Probably the most widely read publication from the 1830s was that of the American writer Washington Irving who had lived actually in the Alhambra in 1829 and had published The Alhambra in 1832.

Illustration: Owen Jones. Moresque Decoration from The Grammar of Ornament, published in 1856.

Although Cairo had shifted both Jones and Goury's awareness of Islamic architecture, decoration and ornamentation, it was the Alhambra that made fundamental changes in both men's theories concerning pattern and geometry. During their six month stay at the palace complex the two men studied pattern work in great detail, much of which was to go towards a publication that would be the culmination of the creative partnership between the two men. It would deal not only with the technical aspects of Islamic architecture and design, but also give indications as to how Islamic decoration could be used at least on an inspirational level, for contemporary European decoration and ornamentation, particularly within the discipline of surface pattern.

Unfortunately Jules Goury died of cholera while at the Alhambra at the ridiculously early age of 31. However, Jones insisted when on returning to London, to produce both his and Goury's findings and did so in an exhaustive nine year long publication over twelve parts from 1836 to 1845. The book was entitled Plans, Elevations, Sections and Details of the Alhambra and as its title suggests was a detailed technical and analysed report on the building complex of the Alhambra. Although costing Jones a fortune not only in publication fees, but also in complex colour printing costs, the book did place Owen Jones in a position whereby he became rapidly recognised as both a critic and scholar concerning the theory of design and decoration.

Illustration: Owen Jones. Moresque Decoration from The Grammar of Ornament, published in 1856.

Jones went on to publish more ground breaking publications that went to reinforce his reputation. However, at the core of both his theories and scholastic knowledge was the world of Islamic decoration, but more particularly that of the Alhambra. So much so that one of the largest chapters in his 1856 volume The Grammar of Ornament was dedicated to the Alhambra. The illustrations in this article are all drawn from that 1856 chapter.

To say that Islamic decoration profoundly affected both the career and idealism of Jones is not a wild exaggeration. The technical aspects of geometry and flat pattern work lay at the heart of much of Jones theorising, but also at the heart of much of his own contribution to the decorative arts, particularly within the fields of textile and wallpaper design. Without Jones visit to the Alhambra, his fundamental theories concerning architecture, pattern, decoration and ornamentation, may well have not made the impressive impact that they inevitably did. That nineteenth century pattern work would have continued to impress with its skill and craftsmanship is without doubt. However, without the contribution of Jones and his fascination with the fundamental aspects of Islamic decoration as perceived through the work produced over centuries at the Alhambra, contemporary work during the period of jones career may well have suffered without his valuable contribution.

Illustration: Owen Jones. Moresque Decoration from The Grammar of Ornament, published in 1856.

Reference 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)
Owen Jones: Design, Ornament, Architecture & Theory in an Age of Transition
Decorative Ornament
Tales of the Alhambra
Splendors of Islam: Architecture, Decoration and Design
Islamic architecture and its decoration, A.D. 800-1500;: A photographic survey
Islamic Designs in Color (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Ornament and Decoration in Islamic Architecture
The Language of Pattern : an Enquiry Inspired By Islamic Decoration
Islamic Design (Dover Pictura)
Islamic Designs (International Design Library)
Islamic Ornament
The Language of Pattern: An Enquiry Inspired by Islamic Decoration (Icon Editions)
Geometric Patterns from Islamic Art & Architecture
Pattern in Islamic Art

Arabian Ornament from Cairo as seen by Owen Jones

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