Great Exhibition of 1851. 155 



And we may add that, in the course of his remarks on the fore- 

 going lecture of Professor Royle, and on the striking examples of 

 Indian art and manufacture, which, by the kindness of the Court 

 of Directors of the Hon. East India Company, were exhibited in 

 illustration of it, Mr Owen Jones, the chairman, observed, that, 

 with all the artists of England with whom he was acquainted, as 

 well as with foreign visitors, he had found but one opinion, viz., 

 that the Indian and Tunisian articles were the most perfect in de- 

 sign of any that appeared in the Exhibition. The opportunity of 

 studying them had been " a boon to the whole of Europe." Many 

 have been purchased by Government for the use of the Schools of 

 Design, and will no doubt be extensively circulated throughout the 

 country. But it is to be hoped, said Mr Jones, that they will do 

 more than merely teach us to copy the Indian style. If they only 

 led to the origination of an Indian style, he would think their in- 

 fluence only hurtful. " The time has arrived," he added, " when it 

 is generally felt that a change must take place, and we must get rid 

 of the causes of obstruction to the art of design which exist in this 

 country. Ever since the Reformation, when a separation took 

 place between religion and art, England has not had anything like 

 a style of her own. In every country which is under the influence 

 of a particular religion, there a peculiar style of art is created. 

 Such is the case with the Mohammedans, Greeks, and others. 

 There now seems to be a general feeling and desire for art, and 

 something must be done. I think the Government may be induced 

 to assist in forming schools throughout the country on a different 

 footing from that on which they are at present established. We 

 see in the ornaments and articles from India the works of a people 

 who are not allowed by their religion to draw the human form ; 

 and it is probable that to this cause we may attribute their great 

 success in their ornamental works. Here in Europe we have been 

 studying drawing from the human figure, but it has not led us for- 

 ward in the art of ornamental design. Although the study of the 

 human figure is useful in refining the taste and teaching accurate 

 observation, it is a roundabout way of learning to draw for the 

 designer for manufactures. It is to be hoped, as this Society is 

 assisting in the formation of elementary schools, that it may be 

 able to find a better means of producing the result in question." 



