Cloth binding for ‘Isabella, or the Pot of Basil’
William Brown Macdougall; unsigned
1898
Brown cloth, with gilt lettering
10 x 7 inches
This imposing, non-naturalistic, Art Nouveau design suggests the growing stalk of the basil without providing an exact representation. It might also connote the dynamism of Isabella’s love for her murdered beau. Viewed pure decoratively, on the other hand, it is a prime example of Macdougall’s deployment of organic Nouveau motifs, with the emphasis placed on the curvilinearity of the lines and the simplification of the forms.
Photograph and text by Simon Cooke