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Florid Victorian Ornament
Do you want intricate and convoluted scrollwork for a poster or newspaper ad? Are you looking for an ornate floral design for your decoupage? Are you into collage or boxes filled with mementos from the recent, florid past? Or do you want to make Victorian greeting cards or bookplates like those you found in your great-grandfather's books? You'll find designs for these and a multitude of other imaginative projects in this rich and impressive collection overflowing with remarkable Victorian ornament.
Klimsch's exceptional quality of rendering these designs, his use of clean lines, shading, and three-dimensional effects in the most complex ornaments, is truly remarkable. He captures the Victorian love of the fantastic and exotic, of a riotous imagination that is ultimately controlled and ordered. These examples of Victorian ornamentation are among the very best that can be found today.
Florid Victorian Ornament contains more than 700 metal-engraved designs on 102 borders, frames, corners, leaves, scrollwork, strapwork, rosettes, escutcheons, and cartouches in varied sizes and styles. There are floral leaves, flowers, vines, wreaths, and vases filled with incredibly ornate, ever-spreading, ever-germinating greenery. There are intricate geometric Greek frets, interlocking circles, squares, triangles, rectangles, rococo extravagances, curlicues beyond description. And there are the perennial lions, swans, serpents, heads, hats, helmets, vegetables, innocent waifs, lovers, and healthy, overripe women.
From this vivid collection commercial artists, craftspeople, and designers will find numerous designs they can readily use in advertising and graphics work or for their own personal enjoyment. And if you are a lover of Victoriana, grab this book and revel in excess.
Klimsch's exceptional quality of rendering these designs, his use of clean lines, shading, and three-dimensional effects in the most complex ornaments, is truly remarkable. He captures the Victorian love of the fantastic and exotic, of a riotous imagination that is ultimately controlled and ordered. These examples of Victorian ornamentation are among the very best that can be found today.
Florid Victorian Ornament contains more than 700 metal-engraved designs on 102 borders, frames, corners, leaves, scrollwork, strapwork, rosettes, escutcheons, and cartouches in varied sizes and styles. There are floral leaves, flowers, vines, wreaths, and vases filled with incredibly ornate, ever-spreading, ever-germinating greenery. There are intricate geometric Greek frets, interlocking circles, squares, triangles, rectangles, rococo extravagances, curlicues beyond description. And there are the perennial lions, swans, serpents, heads, hats, helmets, vegetables, innocent waifs, lovers, and healthy, overripe women.
From this vivid collection commercial artists, craftspeople, and designers will find numerous designs they can readily use in advertising and graphics work or for their own personal enjoyment. And if you are a lover of Victoriana, grab this book and revel in excess.
- GenresArt
112 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1977
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 22, 2011
The title certainly gives it away: the majority of this book is page after page of beautiful, flowery Victorian ornamental engravings. But it's more than just that. This is one of the best collections of circular designs, corner designs, border patterns, ribbons and wreaths, cherubic figures, flowers, vines, etc. that I've ever seen. The reproductions are perfectly sharp and virtually without flaw. The lines and hatching are all crisp and clear.
The amazing thing about this collection is that it is the product of one artist: Ferdinand Karl Klimsch, who lived from 1812 to 1890. All of the illustrations are from his metal engravings. As you flip from one page of flawless designs to the next, you can't help but marvel at the monumental work that has gone into a collection such as this. It's staggering.
As a visual reference, it's fantastic because of its organization and range. There is a surprising range to the ornamentation: Greek keys, geometric patterns, florid patterns (surprise), animals, you name it. You could spend years attempting to replicate the variety here. If you've any love of this type of stuff, I believe you can't go wrong with this volume.
Dover also has a book, 2,100 Victorian Monograms, by Klimsch. It's tempting.
The amazing thing about this collection is that it is the product of one artist: Ferdinand Karl Klimsch, who lived from 1812 to 1890. All of the illustrations are from his metal engravings. As you flip from one page of flawless designs to the next, you can't help but marvel at the monumental work that has gone into a collection such as this. It's staggering.
As a visual reference, it's fantastic because of its organization and range. There is a surprising range to the ornamentation: Greek keys, geometric patterns, florid patterns (surprise), animals, you name it. You could spend years attempting to replicate the variety here. If you've any love of this type of stuff, I believe you can't go wrong with this volume.
Dover also has a book, 2,100 Victorian Monograms, by Klimsch. It's tempting.
Displaying 1 of 1 review