by David Batterham, A. Racinet and M. Dupont-Auberville

Imagine having an opulent compilation of history's most elegant and beautiful patterns and designs at your fingertips—to use, peruse, admire, and be inspired by. World of Ornament brings together the two greatest encyclopedic collections of ornament from the 19th-century chromo-lithographic tradition: Auguste Racinet's L'Ornement polychrome, Volumes I and II (1875/1888), and M. Dupont-Auberville's L'Ornement des tissus (1877). Adapted from historical items dating back to antiquity, such as jewelry, tiles, stained glass, illuminated manuscripts, textiles, and ceramics, these ornamental designs based primarily on natural motifs encompass a wide range of cultural aesthetics including classic Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Etruscan motifs, Asian and Middle Eastern patterns, as well as European designs from medieval times through the 19th century.

 

Artists, historians, and art lovers will appreciate this lavish idea book, and interior designers and patternmakers will be delighted that all of the ornamental designs may be used and reproduced without restriction! This is one case where words are going to fail us. This stupendous, voluptuous work, with its 500 pages of ornament illustration—most of it based on natural motifs—should come with its own packet of ammonia inhalant, because it's so awesome you're eventually going to pass out. Big, thick, and it weighs in at about 15 pounds.