Who was Dr Christopher Dresser ? (1834-1904)

Born in Glasgow Christopher Dresser studied at the Government school of design at Somerset House. He went on to lecture at the School in botany before going on to lecture at the department of Science and Art at South Kensington specialising in Botany. In 1856 he supplied one plate to Owen Jones for his 'Grammar of Ornament.

His designs for ceramics were shown on the Minton and Wedgewood stands at the 1862 exhibition. His designs for carpets were shown on Brinton's stand at the 1867 exhibition and metalwork designs for coalbrookdale at the 1871 London exhibition.  And designs for eleven different wallpaper companies were shown at the 1878 exhibition.

In 1879 he established Dresser & Holme and started importing oriental goods. He designed pottery for Linthorpe and the William Ault potteries, metalwork for James Dixon & Sons, Coalbrookdale and Elkington. He established the Art Furnisher's Alliance in 1880 and was the guest editor of the Furniture Gazette from January to December of 1881. He supplied designs to at least fifty companies over his career and is considered the father of modern design and an icon of the aesthetic movement. 

Ref. Charlotte Gere and Michael Whiteway, Nineteenth-Century Design, From Pugin to Mackintosh, Appendix of Architects, Designers and Manufacturers, pages 280-298, George Weidenfeld and Nicholson Ltd, 1993

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