Owen Jones died On This Day 19 April 1874. A London-born architect and designer of Welsh descent, he is celebrated as an expert on colour and ornament.
Jones was employed as one of the Superintendents of Works for the Great Exhibition of 1851. He was responsible for not only the decoration of Joseph Paxton's gigantic cast iron and glass palace, but also for the arrangement of the exhibits within, and this was the architectural project which first brought Jones to the wider public's attention.
One of the earliest examples of Jones's decoration as applied to architecture (and one of the few examples to exist today, albeit restored) was his work on Christ Church in Streatham, built in 1841 by James Wild (1814–1892), who became Jones's brother-in-law. Jones was responsible for the interior decoration, but would most probably have also contributed to the design of the exterior which exhibits brick polychromy and architectural details with Byzantine and Islamic influences.
Jones was employed as one of the Superintendents of Works for the Great Exhibition of 1851. He was responsible for not only the decoration of Joseph Paxton's gigantic cast iron and glass palace, but also for the arrangement of the exhibits within, and this was the architectural project which first brought Jones to the wider public's attention.
One of the earliest examples of Jones's decoration as applied to architecture (and one of the few examples to exist today, albeit restored) was his work on Christ Church in Streatham, built in 1841 by James Wild (1814–1892), who became Jones's brother-in-law. Jones was responsible for the interior decoration, but would most probably have also contributed to the design of the exterior which exhibits brick polychromy and architectural details with Byzantine and Islamic influences.
