Length of woven wool and silk 1870s Christopher Dresser British, Scottish The repeating pattern of stylized flowers arranged in a fan shape within an arch in red and gold on a shaded green ground reflects Christopher Dresser's interest in Japanese textiles, while it also fulfills his requirements for good textile design. Dresser argued that textiles, unlike pictorial art, were only suited for flat, ornamental design. As he elaborates in Principles of Decorative Design (1873), "The ornamentist when enriching a fabric deals only with a surface, and has no thought of placing pictures thereon; he has simply to enrich or beautify that which without his art would be plain and unornamental."This pattern was shown at the 1871 International Exhibition in London, and illustrated in the accompanying Art-Journal Catalogue, where it was advertised as "Very beautiful and not extremely costly fabrics for upholstering purposes, manufactured by Messrs. J. W. and C. Ward of Halifax, from the designs by