Christopher Dresser

Christopher Dresser (4 July 1834 in Glasgow – 24 November 1904 in Mulhouse) was a designer 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 or Modern English style; both originated in England and had long-lasting international influence.

Dresser was born in Glasgow, Scotland, of a Yorkshire family. At age 13, he began attending the Government School of Design, Somerset House, London. 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 in 1857, "Botany as Adapted to the Arts and Art Manufactures". In 1858 he sold his first designs.

In 1850 the University of Jena, Germany, where Schleiden held the chair, granted a conventional doctorate to Dresser on his submission of his books Rudiments of Botany (1859) and Unity in Variety (1859) and a short paper on plant structure; as Dresser did not attend the University his doctorate was awarded in absentia.

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. He claimed to have designed 'as much as any man' at the International Exhibition London 1862. As early as 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) which was addressed in the preface to 'working men'. In 1899 The Studio magazine found it was possible to quote this book 'page after page and not find a line, scarcely a word, that would not be endorsed by the most critical member of the Arts and Crafts Association today.' In effect Dresser set the agenda adopted by the Arts and Crafts movement at a later date.

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