A large royal blue circle with four circles budding from it is at center. Inside the circles are intricate designs of bronze stems and leaves and white flowers. Some flowers are opened, exposing the inside while others are closed, revealing the udnerside of the petals. A pink petal-like design is in the center of the large circle and is outlined in the same bronze color included in the stems and leaves. Four stylized flower designs are spread to each corner. There is a legend at the bottom of the page in order to identify the genus of each plant. The pink, blue, green, and bronze colors are shared by the four flower designs. The top two flowers have a spiky pink center as well as leaves and pointed stems. The bottom left flower has wavy petals of pink and royal blue with bronzey pistils. Tiny pink buds are symmetrically placed at the center of the stem. On the right, a flower with diamond shaped pink and blue petals make up the overall diamond shape of the plant. The center of the plant has five leaves shaped as a star.

This object is currently on display in room 206 as part of Botanical Expressions. There is one other image of this object. See our image rights statement.

See more objects with the tag decoration, ornament, floral, book, print, ornament print.

Object Timeline

	We acquired this object.
1970	We photographed this object. We photographed this object.
2019	We exhibited this object.
2022	You found it!

Book, Floriated Ornament: A Series of Thirty-One Designs

This is a Book. It was written by A.W.N. Pugin and illustrated by A.W.N. Pugin and Christopher Dresser.

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives as part of Botanical Expressions.

It is dated 1849. Its medium is lithograph on paper with hand-colored plates. It is a part of the department.

A. W. N. Pugin was a key figure of British design reform and a vocal admirer of the medieval gothic style. Floriated Ornament, a collection of original designs for stenciling, was intended to demonstrate the beauty achievable through the gothic approach of stylizing botanical forms based on direct observation. The Government School of Design, where Dresser was a student, advanced the teachings of Pugin’s Floriated Ornament.

It is credited Gift of Leopold Eidlitz, Smithsonian Libraries, NK1565 .P8X 1849.