, November 24, 1904) was an English designer

Designer

A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...

 and design theorist, now widely known as one of the first and most important, independent, designers and was a pivotal figure in the Aesthetic Movement, and a major contributor to the allied Anglo-Japanese

Anglo-Japanese style

Anglo-Japanese is a term used to describe a style which developed in the period from approximately 1851 to 1900, when a new awareness of, and appreciation for Japanese design and culture affected the art, especially the decorative art, and architecture of England. The first use of the term occurs...

 branch of the Movement; both originated in England and had long lasting international influence.

Biography

Dresser was born in Glasgow, Scotland. At age 13, he began attending the Government School of Design, Somerset House. He received training in design and took botany as his specialization. He lectured on the new subject of Art Botany to complete his studies before his appointment in 1855 as Professor of Artistic Botany in the Department of Science and Art, South Kensington
He wrote a series of articles that appeared in the Art Journal

Art Journal

Art Journal may refer to:* Art Journal , 1941–present, published by College Art Association of America* The Art Journal, 1839–1912, London* Art diary, art journal or visual journal, a daily journal kept by artists...

in 1857, "Botany as Adapted to the Arts and Art Manufactures." In 1858 he sold his first designs.

He was awarded a doctorate in absentia from the University of Jena, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 in 1859 for his writings.

From this early date his design work widened to include carpets, ceramics, furniture, glass, graphics, metalwork, including silver and electroplate, and textiles printed and woven.In 1865 the Building News reported that in the early part of his career he had been active as a designer of wallpapers, textiles and carpets thus the most active revolutioniser in the decorative art of the day.
He wrote several books on design and ornament, including The Art of Decorative Design (1862), The Development of Ornamental Art in the International Exhibition (1862), and Principles of Design (1873).

In four months in 1876/1877 Dresser travelled about 2000 miles in Japan, recording his impressions in Japan, its Architecture, Art and Art-Manufactures. He represented the South Kensington Museum whilst in Japan, and was received at court by the Emperor, who ordered Dresser to be treated as a guest of the nation – all doors were open to him. He was requested by the Japanese Government to write a report on 'Trade with Europe'. His pioneering study of Japanese art is evident in much of his work which is considered typical of the Anglo-Japanese style

Anglo-Japanese style

Anglo-Japanese is a term used to describe a style which developed in the period from approximately 1851 to 1900, when a new awareness of, and appreciation for Japanese design and culture affected the art, especially the decorative art, and architecture of England. The first use of the term occurs...

.

Between 1879 and 1882, as Art Superintendent at the Linthorpe Art Pottery in Linthorpe

Linthorpe

Linthorpe is an inner-suburb, and former village in the unitary authority of Middlesbrough, in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, in north east England.- Development :...

 in Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...

 he designed over 1,000 pots. If his ceramic work from the 1860s onwards (for firms such as Mintons, Wedgwood

Wedgwood

Wedgwood, strictly speaking Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, is a pottery firm owned by KPS Capital Partners, a private equity company based in New York City, USA. Wedgwood was founded on May 1, 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood and in 1987 merged with Waterford Crystal to create Waterford Wedgwood, an...

, Royal Worcester

Royal Worcester

Royal Worcester is believed to be the oldest remaining English pottery brand still in existence today.-Overview:Royal Worcester is a British brand known for its history, provenance and classically English collections of porcelain...

, Watcombe, Linthorpe, Old Hall at Hanley and Ault) is considered, he must be amongst the most influential ceramic designers of any period. Much of his work remains to be identified, although wallpaper designs for American, and textiles for French and German manufacturers have recently been located.

Some of Dresser’s metalwork designs are still in production, such as his oil and vinegar sets and toast rack designs, now manufactured by Alessi and Alberto Alessi goes so far as to say Dresser 'knew the techniques of metal production better than any designer who has come to Alessi'.

One of his Old Hall designs is thought to have inspired Alan Garner

Alan Garner

With his first book published, Garner abandoned his work as a labourer and gained a job as a freelance television reporter, living a "hand to mouth" lifestyle on a "shoestring" budget...

's 1967 novel The Owl Service

The Owl Service

The Owl Service is a novel by Alan Garner first published in 1967. It is a contemporary interpretation, which Garner described as an "expression of the myth", of the story of the mythical Welsh figure of Blodeuwedd, whose story is told in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi.The legend concerns a...

.

Partial bibliography

• Unity in Variety as Deduced from the Vegetable Kingdom (1859)
• The Rudiments of Botany, Structural and Physiological (1859)
• Popular Manual on Botany (1860)
• The Art of Decorative Design (1862)
• Development of Ornamental Art in the International Exhibition (1862)
• General Principles of Art, Decorative and Pictorial, with hints on colour, its harmonies and contrasts (1868)
• Principles of Decorative Design (1873)
• Studies in Design (1875)
• Japan, its Architecture, Art and Art-Manufactures (1882)
• Modern Ornamentation (1886)

Further reading

• Flanders, Judith. Inside the Victorian Home: a Portrait of Domestic Life in Victorian England. New York: W. W. Norton, 2004. ISBN 978-0393052091.
• Halen, Widar. Christopher Dresser, a Pioneer of Modern Design. Phaidon: 1990. ISBN 0-7148-2952-8.

Durant, Stuart. Christopher Dresser. 1993

• 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 National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, London 2004. ISBN 1-85177-427-0.
• Lyons, Harry. Christopher Dresser. The People's Designer 1834-1904. Antique Collectors' Club. ISBN 1-85149-455-3.
• Morley, Christopher. Dresser's Decorative Design. 2010

External links

• Dresser 1834-1904 from www.christopherdresser.co.uk.
• Dresser: Industrial Designer from designmuseum.org.
• Dresser: A Design Revolution, exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum
  Victoria and Albert Museum
  The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
  
  , 9 September – 5 December 2004.