[Footnote: _Authorities consulted in preparing this paper:_ "Analysis of
Ornament," Wornum; "Truth, Beauty, and Power," Dresser; "Lectures on Art."
F.W. Moody; "Hopes and Fears for Art," Wm. Morris; "Ornamental Art," Hulme;
"Manuals of Art Education," Prang.]
By MISS MARIE R. GARESCHE, St. Louis High School.
Decoration is the science and art of beautifying objects and rendering them
more pleasing to the eye. As an art, individual taste and skill have much
to do with the perfection of the results; as a science, it is subject to
certain invariable laws and principles which cannot be violated, and a
study of which, added to familiarity with some of the best examples, will
enable any one to appreciate and understand it, even if lacking the skill
and power to create original and beautiful designs.
The study of decoration offers many advantages. It cultivates the
imagination and the taste; it develops our capacity for recognizing and
enjoying the beautiful in both nature and art; it adds to the pleasure and
refinement of life. Practically, its importance can hardly be
overestimated, as it enters into almost all the industrial pursuits. We can
think of but few classes of objects, even the most simple, in which some
attempt at ornamentation is not made.
Ornament is one of the principal means of enhancing the value of the raw
material. A piece of carved wood, or an artistically decorated porcelain
vase, worth perhaps many hundred dollars, if reduced to the commercial
value of the material of which they are composed would be valued at but a
few dollars or cents. The higher the ornamentation ranks, from an artistic
point of view, the greater becomes the value of the article to which it is
applied. Knowledge of good designs is thus evidently important, to the
purchaser of the object ornamented as well as to the designer who planned
it. This can only be attained by cultivation.
To know and appreciate the best ornament should be an aim set forth in any
scheme of general education. This knowledge and appreciation can be
obtained by studying the application of the laws and principles of
ornamental art as exemplified in the works of masters, and also by
endeavoring to apply these principles in designs of our own creation.