The Dictionary of Ornament
by Philippa Lewis, Gillian Darley
Category: Decoration and ornament

The Dictionary of Ornament is the first work since the nineteenth century to encompass in a single volume the whole gamut of decorative styles and motifs used by designers, architects and craftsmen from the Middle Ages to the present day. It provides comprehensive coverage of both architecture and the decorative arts, including furniture, silver, jewellery and metalwork. The text is arranged alphabetically with cross-references indicated by asterisks. In addition to entries on specific styles, patterns and motifs, there is coverage of the pattern books through which successive vocabularies of ornament were disseminated, and of recurrent themes and their various decorative expressions.