17th – 21st century

The language
of pattern

Long before “design” was a category of its own, artisans were already asking how an object could be both useful and beautiful. This portfolio traces three centuries of decorative and ornamental art — from gilded Baroque courts to contemporary pattern-making — reinterpreted for modern apparel, decor, and home goods.

Seven eras of ornament

  1. 17th – early 18th c.

    Baroque Ornament

    Opulent, symmetrical, and theatrical — gilded surfaces, marquetry, and elaborate scrollwork designed to project power.

  2. Early – mid 18th c.

    Rococo

    A lighter, more playful evolution of Baroque — asymmetrical curves, shell motifs, pastel palettes.

  3. Mid – late 19th c.

    Arts and Crafts

    A reaction against industrial mass production — handcrafted textiles rooted in nature and honest materials.

  4. 1890 – 1910

    Art Nouveau

    Sinuous, organic lines drawn from plants and the female form — ornament as structure, not addition.

  5. 1920s – 1930s

    Art Deco

    Bold geometry and streamlined symmetry, reflecting modern machine-age optimism.

  6. 1940s – 1960s

    Mid-Century Pattern

    Oversized, graphic motifs in flat color, built for mass production and modern living.

  7. 1970s – present

    Contemporary Pattern & Print

    Hand-drawn and maximalist, blending historic motifs with modern print technology.

What unites these traditions is a belief that everyday objects deserve artistry — that a chair, a wallpaper, or a length of fabric can carry the same intention as anything hung in a gallery. Pattern, symmetry, and motif repetition are the through-line, whether drawn from nature, geometry, or cultural symbolism.

The ten plates that follow are a working reference for this portfolio — a lineage cgk.ink draws on directly in its art-inspired collections.

Key figures, chronologically

  1. I

    André-Charles Boulle — 1642–1732

    Baroque

    French cabinetmaker to Louis XIV, famed for elaborate marquetry using brass and tortoiseshell inlay.

  2. II

    William Morris — 1834–1896

    Arts & Crafts

    English textile designer and founder of the Arts and Crafts movement, celebrated for intricate nature-based repeating patterns.

  3. III

    Owen Jones — 1809–1874

    Reference

    Welsh architect whose The Grammar of Ornament catalogued global pattern traditions and became a foundational design reference.

  4. IV

    Alphonse Mucha — 1860–1939

    Art Nouveau

    Czech painter whose flowing, decorative posters defined the visual language of Art Nouveau.

  5. V

    Émile Gallé — 1846–1904

    Art Nouveau

    French glass and furniture designer central to Art Nouveau and the École de Nancy.

  6. VI

    Louis Comfort Tiffany — 1848–1933

    Art Nouveau

    American designer renowned for stained glass and decorative glassware fusing nature with craft.

  7. VII

    Sonia Delaunay — 1885–1979

    Modernist

    Ukrainian-French artist who brought bold geometric abstraction to textile and fashion design.

  8. VIII

    Erté — 1892–1990

    Art Deco

    Russian-French illustrator whose name became synonymous with Art Deco fashion and ornament.

  9. IX

    Maija Isola / Marimekko — 1927–2001

    Mid-Century

    Finnish textile designer known for bold, oversized floral prints that defined Scandinavian pattern design.

  10. X

    Zandra Rhodes — b. 1940

    Contemporary

    British textile and fashion designer known for vivid, hand-drawn ornamental prints since the 1970s.

DTLA — Art-Inspired Design