Designer: Christopher Dresser (1834-1904)

"Maximum effect with minimum means" is a saying Christopher Dresser used to repeat to his students. A saying many of us during this recession can relate to. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Dresser believed in good, quality design for all.

Think of today's designers for Target: Martha Stewart, Michael Graves and Karim Rashid …
Christopher Dresser was the first to self-brand products offering quality at an affordable price.

"Fitness for purpose", Dresser also used to say, was the basis of good design. Bauhaus designers championed this principle which is also something we desperately are in need of today.

Dresser was enthusiastic about scientific progress and the machine-age which contrasted sharply with the pessimism of John Ruskin and William Morris. He believed existing scientific laws were destined to become outdated only to be replaced by newer, simpler laws. This belief led him to the theory that design should be simple.

In his lifetime, Dresser received quite a bit of recognition. Design firms carrying Dresser creations were cream of the crop. It is strange that this leading Victorian designer doesn't share the same acclaim as other designers such as Morris today.

Manufactured by Chubb & Co. for the Art Furnishers' Alliance, (1880-83);Ebonized & gilded mahogany --Victoria & Albert Museum

For whatever reason I've always skipped over the part about Christopher Dresser’s personal life. I made the erroneous assumption that he was not married. Surely someone so prolific couldn't possibly have time for a wife, or even a family. I was wrong. At the young age of 20 he married an "older" woman (points for him) named Thirza Perry, though she was only 24. Together they had thirteen -- 13 -- children.

I love his work. Something about every single piece I see time and time again sings. I wonder if 130 years from now, people will feel the same about Karim Rashid’s designs. Somehow I don’t think so. Take one moment and place Dresser’s theories and work within the context of his time. His designs and ideas stood apart from his contemporaries and were advanced for the time.

Born in Glasgow to non-conformist English parents, Dresser was a very talented child. His father was a tax collector moving his family frequently over the years. When Dresser was 13, he won a scholarship Government School of Design. This new art school was set up to improve the standard of British design by joining the disciplines of art and science.

During his attendance, Dresser met many of the most important design reformers of the day including his mentor: the utterly fantastic Owen Jones.

Dresser studied botany, specializing in the field. At the early age of 20, he began to lecture at the School of Design and wrote several articles for the Art Journal. He illustrated ten plates of plants to Owen Jones' Grammar of Ornament (1856) and received an honorary doctorate in botany in 1859. By 1860, working as a professor for the University of London, his application for Chair of Botany at was rejected. He was determined to forge a career as a designer and set up shop that same year. His fascination with the inherent symmetry and regularity of nature merged with the natural laws in his designs.

Blue Floral Urn (1875); Cloisonné frieze inspired by Iznik (Turkish) designs available at Jason Jacques Inc.. Image from ArtNet.

In the 1860s and 1870s, he worked as a freelance designer for Mintons Ltd. and J. Wedgwood and Sons. Many designs were inspired by ‘oriental’ cloisonné wares.

An unconventional thinker, Dresser broke new ground in design. A trip to Japan in 1876 strengthened his preference for form over ornament. He also procured items for Tiffany & Co. in New York.

Electroplate teapot (1878-1879) made by James Dixon and Sons. Collection of The British Museum.

He designed forms intended for mass production and ensured high-quality. Most of his metal work he designed for James Dixson and Sons Elkington & Co.

He designed textiles, wallpaper, silver hollowware, brassware, glass, pottery and furniture.

In 1880, he established The Art Furnishers' Alliance, which sold furniture, metalwork, ceramics, glass, fabrics and other items of his design -- some executed under his supervision. Unfortunately, by 1883, the firm went bankrupt and everything liquidated. Dresser had to move to the suburbs.

Tongue Vase, Christopher Dresser, c.1893. From “Design in the age of Darwin: From William Morris to Frank Lloyd Wright" exhibition.

There was no one to continue his work after his death. In part, perhaps, because no one was as brilliant. The other part, perhaps, because he was alone in his mission to address design for all.

Dresser's designs reissued and currently available at Alessi.

To see more good stuff and read about his market click HERE.