Well-known in the Victorian art world for his award-winning ornamental designs, John Leighton decided to provide contemporary artists and artisans with a rich sourcebook of ideas and inspiration to use in developing their own designs. Entitled the book featured an enormous array of designs and motifs from many cultures and times. The present volume contains all 102 plates from that rare 19th-century compilation.

Included are more than 1,100 motifs painstakingly adapted from a host of design traditions: primitive tribal art and pottery; Egyptian sculpture and painting; Assyrian wall sculptures and carved ivory; Greek sculpture and terra-cotta vases; Etruscan painting, bronzework, and jewelry; Pompeian architectural details and mosaics; designs from Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Persian, Moorish, French Renaissance, and other sources. Careful reworkings rather than exact copies of original designs, these motifs were meant to guide users in creating their own versions of decorative ornament.