Christopher Dresser

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Botany diagram, about 1855, Christopher Dresser V&A Museum no. 3968

Christopher Dresser (Glasgow, July 4, 1834 – Mulhouse, November 24, 1904) was a designer and writer on design, now widely known as Britain’s first independent industrial designer and as a contributor to the Anglo-Japanese and Arts and Crafts movements in Britain.

Dresser was born in Glasgow, Scotland. Though trained as a botanist, by 1857 he was writing a series of articles in Art Journal under the title "Botany as Adapted to the Arts and Art Manufactures." He later published The Art of Decorative Design (1862), The Development of Ornamental Art (1862), and Principles of Design (1871-72). His design work included carpets, silver and electroplate, wallpaper, pottery and glass, and metalwork. From 1879, he was appointed director of the Linthorpe Art Pottery in linthorpe in Middlesbrough (although his name disappeared from the ware by 1882) and was one of the first to import Japanese goods into Britain. Dresser took inspiration both from Japanese motifs and materials and his work showing this influence is considered archetypical of the Anglo-Japanese style.

[edit] References

Judith Flanders. Inside the Victorian Home: a Portrait of Domestic Life in Victorian England. New York: W. W. Norton, 2004.
Halin, Widar. Christopher Dresser, a Pioneer of Modern Design. Phaidon: 1990. ISBN 0-7148-2952-8.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Snodin, Michael and John Styles. Design & The Decorative Arts, Britain 1500–1900. V&A Publications: 2001. ISBN 1-85177-338-X.
Whiteway, Michael: Christopher Dresser. A Design Revolution. V & A Publications, Cooper-Hewitt Nationa Design Museum, Smithonian Institution, London 2004. ISBN 1-85177-427-0.