Transcript The History of Floral Design

Egyptian Floral Design

Began in 2800 B.C. to 28 B.C.
 We discovered floral design
through artifacts and wall
paintings
 Used for decoration in
 Temples
 Banquet Tables
 Wreaths for guests
 Used in precessions
 Given to honor someone
Egyptian Floral Design

 Orderly, alternating patterns
 Simplistic, repetitious, and
highly stylized
 Placed in spouted vases with
no stem visible
 Set in regimented rows
 Around the edge of the vase
(2 inches above the rim)
 Blossoms were flanked by
leaves or buds on lower
stems.
 No bunching or overlapping
of material.
Greek Floral Design

This Period Began
600B.C.–46 B.C.
 The ancient Greeks were so
dedicated to beauty that their art
heritage has lived through the
ages and influences today’s art.
 Herbs were frequently used with
the flowers, and as garlands,
and wreaths.
 They introduced the Horn of
Plenty or Cornucopia.
Greek Floral Design

Greek designs expressed
grace and simplicity
Color was not important
 the flowers, fragrance, and
symbolism associated with
each flower were foremost
importance
Often symbolic of a god or
hero
Roman Floral Design

28 -B.C.-325 A. D.
 The Romans continued with
the customs of the Greeks.
 Garlands, wreaths and crowns
were more elaborate than
those of the Greeks. Crowns
and garlands were tapered.
 Flowers were sometimes
arranged in baskets and
cornucopias.. Use as made of
the fragrance of flowers.
Roman Floral Design

 “Dies Rosationis” - After a
person dies the family would
gather at a rose bedecked
grave and lay more roses in
remembrance of that person.
 “Sub Rosa” - Roman custom
of hanging a wreath of white
roses from the ceiling, and all
things said beneath the
wreath was to be kept a
secret.
Byzantine Floral Design

320-600 AD
Continued Roman
designs
Elaborate containers
had nearly pointed
bases.
Used symmetrical
tree-like
compositions
Byzantine Floral Design

Changed construction
of garlands to be
narrow bands of
flowers or fruit
alternated with foliage
Formal conical designs
with clusters of
blossoms at regular
intervals
Middle Ages Floral Design

(476-1400 AD)
 Flowers arranged in
vases
 Symmetrical groups in
Chinese flasks show
Chinese influence.
 Little known about floral
designs of this period
 Information found in
Persian art, rugs, and
tapestries.
Renaissance Floral Design

 Renaissance period saw a
rebirth of many interests,
particularly in the arts.
 The Renaissance began in
Italy but quickly spread to
all of Europe.
 The Renaissance style was
greatly influenced by the
Byzantine, Greek, and
Roman periods.
Renaissance Floral Design

 Stems were covered
creating a massed,
symmetrically stiff
arrangement.
 In this era, the Christmas
Wreath became popular
 Fruits, blossoms and
leaves were woven into
garlands to decorate walls
and vaulted ceilings
 Petals were piled into
baskets to strew on floors
and streets or to float
down from balconies into
rooms below.
Baroque and Flemish Style Period
(1600-1775 AD)
 Classical
Renaissance style
gave way to the lavish
Baroque style
 Symmetrical oval
shaped designs
 Hogarthian curve or
S-Curve developed
this period

Baroque and Flemish Style Period

 Styles were evoked by the
works of Michelangelo in
Italy, but these were adopted
by designers in Holland and
Belgium.
 Large containers held
flamboyant arrangements
containing many different
kinds of flowers.
English Georgian Period

(1714-1760)
 The 15th and 16th Century collective
fortresses of England gave way to smaller
houses, into which flowers were brought,
more for their fragrance than their beauty.
 Arrangements during the first half of this
period consisted of flowers simply
crammed into sturdy containers, with little
or no concern for design.
 Some of the containers of the period were
made specifically to hold flowers, with
holes or openings to maintain the stems at
particular angles.
Floral Design in French Period

All of these design periods fall
under one Category :
French Baroque
French Rococo (18th Century)
Louis XVI (Late 18th Century)
Empire Period (1804-1814)
French Baroque

The topiary was
introduced during
this period.
Symmetrical designs
with no focal point.
Floral designs were
informal, fragile, and
delicate.
French Rococo (18th Century)

Designs more formal
than those of the
Baroque period,
predominantly arc
and crescent-shaped,
delicate and airy.
Louis XVI (Late 18th Century)

Delicate, cool colors
Before the French
revolution, and the
revival of the
Classical Period
following the
French revolution.
Empire Period (1804-1814)

Military symbolism
was often used in
arrangements, using
emblems and figures
associated with the
emperor.
Most of the designs
were simple and
triangular in shape.
Victorian Era 1820-1901
 The Victorian era
named for Queen
Victoria, marked a
period of floral design,
in which we often see
elaborate and full
designs.
 Upper-class members
of society showed
their wealth with large,
excessive, opulent
and often overdone
flower arrangements.

Victorian Era

 This era was the first attempt to
establish rules for floral arranging
 Arrangements were created
weekly by cultured ladies and their
daughters in the home.
 This was also the time when
tussie-mussie bouquets and
nosegay bouquets made their
mark in society. Proper women of
Victorian society carried these
bouquets at most social
gatherings.
Victorian Era

 Victorian style arrangements are
typically round or oval in form.
Flowers are typically kept to a lower
height,
 Strong color contrasts and flowers
with brilliant hues were preferred
 Lots of foliage is associated with
Victorian style arrangements.
 Fruit may be added to the
arrangement also, mainly because
the flowers are cut from the garden
that are being used.
Victorian Era

Language of Flowers
 Victorians knew the language of
flowers and carefully selected
their arrangements or single
flowers according to the
message.
 they wanted to convey to the
recipient.
 A gift of a bouquet of
chrysanthemums meant love; a
red carnation meant that feelings
weren’t mutual and lavender
meant luck or devotion
Early American
(Colonial) Period






(1620-1720)
The early colonists generally produced
plants for food or for their medicinal
properties.
What little time they had for arranging
flowers was spent making simple
arrangements to adorn their very modest
homes.
Flowers were used more in the Central and
Southern Colonial areas.
Most of the arrangements they made were
copied from the English Georgian and
French Empire periods.
Arrangements were made in simple mass
forms using numerous colors.
Colonial Williamsburg
Floral Design
(1740-1780)

 Colonial Williamsburg is
renowned for it’s colorful
arrangements in finger vase and
flower bricks.
 The English and European roots
particularly in the Georgian and
French designs became more
symmetrical and sophisticated.
 Fan and Triangular-shaped flower
arrangements where lightly
grouped at the top, sometimes
11/2 to three times the height of
their containers.
American Period Floral Design

(1780-1820)
 The Neoclassic and Empire
styles which had been evolving
in Europe, especially the delicate
French style, had a great
influence on the styles used in
late colonial America at this time.
 In these types of arrangements,
masses of mixed bouquets were
used less often, and the charm
of individual flowers was
emphasized. Fewer flowers were
used in containers.
American Victorian Period

(1800-1920)
 The Victorian period in
England began to spill over to
the newly-declared United
States.
 Ornate containers of many
different kinds of materials
were filled to overflowing,
using cool colors and an
abundance of white.
 Arrangements tended to be
made in rich purples,
magentas, and dark blues. and
the Tuzzy-Muzzy was popular,
especially in the deep ´South´.
Modern Period (Contemporary)
Floral Design

Art nouveau 1890-1910
Art Deco 1920’s – 1930’s
Free Form Expression 1950’s
Geometric Mass Design 1960’s – 1970’s
Modern American
Modern Period (Contemporary)
Floral Design

Art Nouveau
Based on curvilinear
lines and often patterned
after nature in the shape
of plants/flowers
Containers were carving
and asymmetrical
Modern Period (Contemporary)
Floral Design
Art Deco

 Influenced by ancient
Egyptian, Jazz age, and the
industrial age.
 Characterized by strong
geometric lines and
patterns
 The style reemerged in the
1960’s
 Corsages became popular
in this time period.
Modern Period (Contemporary)
Floral Design

Free Form
Expression
Arrangements became
more expressive with
feeling or movement
and freedom
Textural differences
between design
materials were
emphasized
Modern Period (Contemporary)
Floral Design

Geometric Mass Design
 Tight, geometric bouquets
were common
 Arrangements combined
mass and line into stiff
patterns
 Compote containers were
commonly used.
Chinese Influences

 The Chinese were making flower arrangements as
far back as 207 BCE to 220 CE, in the Han Era of
Ancient China. Flowers were an integral
component of religious teaching and medicine.
 Practitioners of Buddhism, Taoism, and
Confucianism placed cut flowers on their altars.
This practice dates back to 618-906 CE.
 Buddhist teachings forbade the taking of a life, so
religious practitioners worked sparingly when
taking cuttings from plants. Flowers and leaves
that were used to make basket arrangements were
selected based on their symbolic meaning.
Japanese Influence

 The truth about the origin of Ikebana is unidentified. But
when the Buddhism reached Japan in the 7th century, it
is thought to have come to Japan as part of Buddhist
practice.
 It is characterized by linear forms
 The structure of a Japanese flower arrangement is
based on a scalene triangle delineated by three main
points, usually twigs, considered in some schools to
symbolize heaven, earth, and man and in others sun,
moon, and earth. The container is a key element of the
composition, and various styles of pottery may be used
in their construction.