Christopher Dresser

In spite of the fact that his name is far less well-known than that of Ruskin, Morris or Pugin, there is good reason to call Christopher Dresser (1834-1904), born in Glasgow, the first industrial designer. Trained to be a botanist, he used botany as a source of inspiration for his language of forms. After a visit to Japan in 1876-1877, the brilliant Dresser created several objects that were clearly influenced by Oriental models. It is those objects, with their minimalist forms and with which he earned himself a name in later years, that will be on display. Dresser showed a keen interest in the industrial production process. Most of the time he worked with standardized elements. He made designs for metal, ceramics and glass. If it weren’t for Dresser, modern design would be rather different today.