CARPETS
The introduction of power driven looms in the 1850s led to a rapid expansion of the machine-made carpet industry. Dresser said that to be effective a carpet should be neutral and act as a background to the contents of a room. Many of his designs were based on geometrical principles with a continuous radiating pattern featuring flowers and foliage. He often used scrolls or banded borders as a 'frame' for the design.
As in other areas of his work Japanese influence can be traced in his carpet designs, on occasion leading to the use of grotesque figures. Unfortunately, few examples of his work in this area have been traced and it is only in articles written at the time that information can be found detailing the colours used.
His influence on carpet design spread to America along with that of the other prominent English designer at that time - William Morris. In 1873 the American government asked Dresser to produce a report on the current state of design there and this led to an attempt by some of the manufacturers to improve their standards.
By 1885, in Britain, Dresser was recognised for his outstanding contribution to the improvement which had taken place in the design and quality of carpets. In this instance, however, the possibilities provided by mass production, which he favoured because it could bring good design within the reach of everyone, worked against him. As the nineteenth century ended, the desire for ever changing patterns saw his ideas and principles disregarded with evermore elaborate and convoluted designs being produced.
TEXTILES
Some of Dresser's textile designs were based on geometrical units formed by curves and squares, others on flower and plant forms. One of the principles that underlay all of his work was that the design should be in keeping with the material used. With regard to textiles this meant that the cheaper ones would have simpler designs than the expensive ones which could be more elaborately decorated.
One feature which distinguished his work from that of his contemporaries was compositional balance, displayed in his adaptations of Egyptian and other Oriental patterns. One innovation introduced by him was the Japanese technique of shading the background from one colour to another.
He used fish, bats, dragons, insects, birds and butterflies as motifs. He also produced designs for lace, quilts, tablecloths, bedspreads and towels though none of these articles seem to have been preserved.
One design in particular, of conventionalised flowers on a background of wavelike forms, for a cretonne, is strongly reminiscent of the work of the Japanese painter Hokusai.
