Christopher Dresser
Unlike Arts and Crafts Movement contemporaries who had negative reaction towards the use of technology and mass production, Christopher Dresser was a writer and designer who welcomed opportunities that technology could offer to make remarkable designs at affordable prices. He emphasized the importance of modernity and design more than handmade craftsmanship and created products that are functional and well-designed. He expressed that design must consist of three principles of truth, beauty and power; truth being opposed to reuse and imitation of materials, beauty as a consistent form in design and power implying energy and strength within the ornament. Considering functionality and naturalism important, Dresser also employed science and plants’ structures in order to produce ornament in geometrical and naturalistic manner. Being very optimistic about new technology and benefited much from Industrial Revolution, Dresser set his main goal to make beautifully made objects accessible to all classes of peoples by focusing mass production whereas Morris only aspired to produce handcrafted ornament.
Artwork
Figure 1
Christopher Dresser, teapot 1879
(accessed September 20, 2014)
Dresser could become one of the greatest consumer designers with the use of new technology for his products. He gathered a large number of manufacturers to produce his home appliances such as silver plate, cast iron, furniture, ceramics and glass and so on. Dresser’s teapots (Figure 1) were mostly recognized as his major product as it shows how innovative and intelligent he could be. In comparison to the Arts and Crafts Movement product, it was similar that they had followed nature’s structures in order to geometrically balance and be inspired; however, he adopted to embrace use of science and technology. Although his teapots are made in the 19th century, they still look so modern and strong that consumers would love to buy.