ABSTRACT
As a member of the Society of Arts, Henry Cole arranged a series of exhibitions of art manufacture between 1847 and 1849. Following his visit to the Paris Exhibition, he persuaded Queen Victoria to establish a Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, under Prince Albert’s direction. The commencement of our fifteen years’ struggle in ornamental art arose from two causes. In the first place, people of discernment saw that the peoples were behindhand, in this department, theoretically and practically; and, secondly, it was perceived that, however good and lasting the material of our fabrics might be, that they would lose commercially, in the market of the world, if they did not, at least, equal in appearance similar manufactures of other nations. Very elaborate designs are very pleasing, when they are new and rare, but their very richness is apt to pall upon the sense and fatigue the eye.
