Design drawing 1878 - 1888

Christopher Dresser made this design drawing on paper in England, sometime in the late 19th century. As its title suggests, the work is not an end in itself but rather a preliminary study for a larger decorative project, likely wallpaper or textiles. Dresser was part of the aesthetic movement that championed ‘art for art’s sake’, and of the associated reform movement that advocated for better design for British manufacturing. His naturalistic but disciplined, stylized botanical forms were underpinned by a belief that manufactured goods could be elevated to the status of fine art. These twin aspirations of aestheticism and reformism speak to the condition of Victorian England. The politics of taste meant that, at this time, many questioned what role mass-production could play in the project of cultivating taste and morality. Dresser's work provides opportunities to research the aesthetic and social investments of design reform in Britain.