ABSTRACT
Richard Redgrave, (1804–1888), painter and arts administrator, who, along with Henry Cole, spearheaded the transformation of art education in Great Britain. Redgrave and Cole also supervised the new South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum). He prepared the British art section for the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1855 and for the International Exhibition held in London in 1862. The general principles of decorative art specified by South Kensington stated that decoration was secondary to utility; ornament was subservient to construction; that ornament was to be adapted to the specific material type; and fourthly, that ornament was not based on the imitation of plant and animal sources, but the adaptation of their forms and colours to particular requirements. More product-specific details were also published. In commencing, the author proposed to examine two of propositions respecting the application of Decorative Art to Manufacture.
