content: ca. 1879-1962

label: Period

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

label: Description

content: It was common for social or business organizations to send flowers to the funerals of deceased members in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Flowers were sent by friendly and fraternal societies, temperance leagues, social clubs, veteran’s organization, and worker’s unions, among others. The floral tributes were often set pieces patterned after the emblem of the organization or club with flowers and ribbons in their colors. Designs had to be recognizable, thus accuracy was important for the florist, each flower frame must be made to an exact shape and carefully arranged with flowers in the appropriate colors. Depending on the size of the floral recreation, elements might be added or subtracted while maintaining an accurate overall impression of the emblem. In addition to the organization’s emblem recreated on flower frames, many of their other symbols, or assemblages of multiple symbols were recreated out of wire frames for floral arrangements. Emblem set pieces were also used for organizational functions other than just funerals, such as private ceremonies or special events sponsored by the group. Organizational emblem frames often comprised a significant portion of floral frame trade catalogs. Freemason emblems were the most frequently ordered flower frame designs from the florist. Freemasonry is the oldest and most influential fraternal society in the United States. Also known as the Masons, this society came to the United States in 1720, and many of America’s founding fathers were brothers in this fraternity. The mid-nineteenth-century Mason could also belong to many different auxiliary organizations such as the Knights Templars, the Shriners, and the Order of the Eastern Star each of which had flower frames representing their insignia. It was also the largest fraternal body in America and remains so to this day. The primary emblem of the Masons was the square and compass, said to be symbolic of the interaction between mind and matter, inside of which is the letter G, symbolic of either God or geometry. Additional designs for the Masonic ceremonies and funerals included the Maltese cross, Keystone, Masonic Bible, banner, and scroll of honor.

content: emblems (symbols)

content: Floral frames

content: frame components

content: wire

content: associations

content: ceremonies

content: decorations

content: Floral Accessories

content: Floral decorations

content: floral designers

content: Flower arrangement

content: funerals

content: funerary objects

content: secret societies

content: societies

content: symbols

content: wirework

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens, Horticultural Artifacts Collection. Gift of H. Weber & Sons Company.

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Floral frames

content: Wire

content: 23 1/2 × 12 × 7 in. (59.7 × 30.5 × 17.8 cm)

content: <I>Wire frame, Masonic emblem on stand</I>

title_sort: <I>WIRE FRAME, MASONIC EMBLEM ON STAND</I>


unitCode: HAC

type: edanmdm

label: Date

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Silver-plated copper bouquet holder with baluster handle. The openwork vase design is comprised of large leaves with small pear-shaped fruits. The neck, which connects the vase to the handle, is concave and has a short length of chain connected to ring attached. The ring would allow the bouquet holder to be worn from the finger or on a chatelaine at the waist to free the lady's hands while dancing. The spindle handle is in the form of a straight shaft with swells and indented registers. Stylized leaf motifs are engraved around the handle.

label: Label Text

content: Flowers used for personal adornment were a popular, almost mandatory, fashion accessory in the nineteenth century. Small bouquets, called nosegays, posies, or tussie mussies were carried by debutantes, matrons, and girls, and they were a popular gift in the mid to late 1800s among friends and suitors. They were typically created in concentric rings of flowers, tightly wound together, and were often tied with ribbon or placed in a bouquet holder depending on the tastes and fashions. By the 1830s carrying small bouquets of flowers in decorative holders was an established fashion accessory of the upper class and royalty of Europe. These small accessories, also known as posy holders, ‘porte-bouquets’, and ‘bouquetiers’ were both decorative as well as useful. By providing a water source in the bottom of the receptacle, they were able to keep the flowers fresh throughout an occasion, and they also protected the wearer’s gloves or clothing from being stained by the plant pigments. Queen Victoria helped popularize the bouquet holder, and she is seen holding one in her portrait “Queen Victoria at the Drury Lane Theatre, November 1837” painted by E.T. Parris. When the fashion of carrying hand bouquets in decorative holders caught the fancy of the wealthy and middle class, holders were copied and mass produced in a variety of sizes, materials, and embellishments. During the second half of the nineteenth century, holders might be commissioned or purchased from the stock at a jeweler or florist shop. Few were made in the United States, instead they were usually imported from Europe and Asia. They were often given as a commemorative memento of historic encounters or events by the royalty and courts of Europe, but they were also used to celebrate and commemorate important, though less prestigious, events of the wealthy and middle class. Bouquet holders reached the peak of their popularity between the 1830s and 1880s, but it began to dwindle as bouquets of long-stemmed flowers (the latest horticultural development) loosely tied with ribbons surpassed the posy bouquet style. They were not totally out of fashion until the “Roaring Twenties,” when such objects became regarded as trivial and useless. The diversity of styles and mechanisms of bouquet holders is evidence of their longevity as a fashion accessory.

label: Origin

content: Birmingham, England, possibly

label: Topic

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

label: See more items in

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

label: Credit Line

content: Smithsonian Gardens, Horticultural Artifacts Collection. Gift of Frances Jones Poetker.

label: Data Source

content: Smithsonian Gardens

label: Accession number

label: Type

content: Bouquet holders

label: Restrictions & Rights

label: Medium

content: Silver-plated copper

label: Dimensions

content: 5 1/2 × 1 1/2 in. (14 × 3.8 cm)

label: Style

content: Aesthetic Movement

place: England Birmingham

topic:
Tussie-mussies
Porte-fleurs
Decoration and ornament
Bouquet holders
Costume accessories
Victoriana
Posy holders
Fashion
Bouquetiers
Porte-bouquets

type: City

content: Birmingham

type: Country

content: England

label: Title

content: <I>Bouquet holder, fruit and leaf motif</I>

unit_code: HAC

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, FRUIT AND LEAF MOTIF</I>

data_source: Smithsonian Gardens

type: Images

label: High-resolution TIFF

label: High-resolution JPEG

label: Screen Image

label: Thumbnail Image


label: Date

content: ca. 1880

label: Period

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

label: Description

content: The Gates Ajar or Gates of Heaven set piece was an especially elaborate design and very popular in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. It generally ranged from two to four feet high with either pointed or rounded arches over a pair of gates. A taxidermy dove, or less commonly a star, was often placed surmounting the arch. This design was used for the funerals of both men and women. This set piece was meant to portray the entrance to the heavenly realm, and the gates were usually left open to indicate the recent departure of the spirit into heaven. Open gates also implied that the connection with those who had passed was not completely severed, and nothing stood in the way of an eventual reunion in heaven. In nineteenth-century mourning culture, symbols of departure were commonly seen such as a finger pointing heavenward, the hand of God pulling a link from the family chain, hands clasped, and Heaven's open gates. A variation of this design, the Golden Way, incorporated a pathway in the foreground. Inscriptions were frequently included on the platform base of Gates Ajar designs such as "Gone Home.”

label: Label Text

content: Set pieces or set designs were among the most popular floral arrangements in the second half of the nineteenth century. The term set piece is a usually applied to designs in a wide variety of forms, which are often symbolic in character. Shapes that expressed an overall theme for an occasion were very fashionable, such as designs made to depict the profession, associations, or hobbies of an individual. These flower arrangements were ordered for special celebrations, holidays, weddings, and funerals. Typical of the Victorian style, these designs were elaborate and massive, but unlike other forms of flower arrangement, the set piece was exclusively made by the professional florist.

content: Set pieces were usually made up on wire frames in the desired shape, which acted as a foundation for the floral arrangement. Commercially produced, heavy-gaged wire frames, fabricated from either plain or copper-plated wire, became available for flower arrangements between 1860 and 1864. The retail florist business was enhanced considerably by the high demand for arrangements on flower frames in the nineteenth century, and wire frames quickly became the basis of the retail florist’s inventory. The frames could be obtained for little cost to the florist, and if he managed to retrieve the skeleton after the occasion, it could be reused. Wire frames came in both straight and curved outlines and either as a box (three-dimensional frame) or flat frame. Most designs came in several sizes and could be hung or placed on a stand or were free-standing. Standard forms in wire works catalogues ranged in size from 10 to 60 inches. Outside of the standard frame designs offered in wireworks and florist’s supplies catalogues, designs could be made for almost any occasion, with some large enough to make life-sized reproductions.

content: Over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth century floral fashions changed. Some set pieces faded in popularity by the early 1900s, but some remained favorites well into the 1940’s. Many of these same designs are still used today, but the wire frames have been replaced by shapes made from more modern materials to save the florists’ time in making up the arrangement, as well as providing water to the flowers allowing for greater longevity.

content: emblems (symbols)

content: Floral frames

content: frame components

content: wire

content: associations

content: ceremonies

content: decorations

content: Floral Accessories

content: Floral decorations

content: floral designers

content: Flower arrangement

content: funerals

content: funerary objects

content: gates

content: heaven

content: symbols

content: weddings

content: wirework

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens, Horticultural Artifacts Collection.

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Floral frames

content: Wire

content: 44 × 27 × 8 1/2 in. (111.8 × 68.6 × 21.6 cm)

topic:
Heaven
Funerary objects
Frame components
Floral designers
Floral decorations
Floral frames
Wire
Associations
Floral Accessories
Weddings
Rites and ceremonies
Decorations
Wirework
Funeral rites and ceremonies
Flower arrangement
Emblems
Gates

content: <I>Wire frame, gates ajar, large</I>

title_sort: <I>WIRE FRAME, GATES AJAR, LARGE</I>

title: <I>Wire frame, gates ajar, large</I>


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Gilded brass bouquet holder with white glass handle. The vase is formed by four stamped palmettes. Near the top of the joins are hemi-spherical caps. A chain connecting a floral pin to the base of the vase is looped through a hole near the bottom of one of the palmettes. The pin would be inserted through the vase to pierce the stems of a bouquet in order to secure the flowers inside the holder. The neck, which connects the vase to the handle is formed from an unembellished sheet of gilded brass. The spindle handle is opaque white glass that becomes transparent near its tip. Near the bottom a band around one of the registers connects a short length of round-link chain attached to a ring. This would allow the bouquet holder to be worn from the finger or on a chatelaine at the waist to free the lady's hands while dancing.

label: Origin

content: France, possibly

label: Topic

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: glass

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

label: See more items in

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

label: Credit Line

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

content: Gilded brass, glass

content: 4 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (12.1 × 3.8 cm)

topic:
Tussie-mussies
Porte-fleurs
Decoration and ornament
Bouquet holders
Costume accessories
Victoriana
Glass
Posy holders
Fashion
Bouquetiers
Porte-bouquets

content: France

content: <I>Bouquet holder, palmettes, white glass handle</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, PALMETTES, WHITE GLASS HANDLE</I>


content: ca. 1879-1962

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Some of the most popular designs in funeral flowers in the late nineteenth century were those that appealed to the sentimentality of the period. These flower frame designs were both more decorative and more personal in their references. Sentimental designs alluded to lives cut short and the loss of cherished relationships. The Broken Column was one of the most popular and poignant symbols in floral designs and mourning iconography in the nineteenth century and was also seen in the cemetery, in mourning art, and in sentimental literature. It was symbolic of the end of life, and more specifically the unfinished work and frustrated hopes brought by a life cut short. It could be used in the funeral of a proactive figure in society to emblemize their deeds that must now go undone. It was also commonly seen at the funerals of young persons to express the frustrated hopes and broken dreams that bereaved parents felt over the loss of a child. The idea of dashed expectations by a life cut off was essential to the theme of the Broken Column. It usually ranged in height from two to six feet, and a common inscription for this design, as well as for the broken wheel, was “Broken Hopes.” As an unbroken column, the set piece had different connotations. It was used as a tribute to the lives of prominent members of the community because columns, or pillars, in architecture are essential to the structure as supporting elements and ensure the stability and strength of the whole. Therefore, it was appropriate for the pillars society to be remembered with a pillar in a flower frame. Whether broken or intact, the visual impact of this design contributed to its popularity.

content: emblems (symbols)

content: Floral frames

content: frame components

content: wire

content: associations

content: ceremonies

content: columns (architectural elements)

content: decorations

content: Floral Accessories

content: Floral decorations

content: floral designers

content: Flower arrangement

content: funerals

content: funerary objects

content: symbols

content: wirework

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

label: Data Source

content: Smithsonian Gardens

label: Accession number

label: Type

content: Floral frames

label: Restrictions & Rights

content: Wire

content: 20 × 8 × 8 in. (50.8 × 20.3 × 20.3 cm)

topic:
Funerary objects
Frame components
Floral designers
Floral decorations
Floral frames
Columns (architectural elements)
Wire
Associations
Floral Accessories
Rites and ceremonies
Decorations
Wirework
Funeral rites and ceremonies
Flower arrangement
Emblems

content: <I>Wire frame, broken column, small</I>

title_sort: <I>WIRE FRAME, BROKEN COLUMN, SMALL</I>

title: <I>Wire frame, broken column, small</I>


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Gilded brass bouquet holder with mother of pearl handle. The four-sided vase is stamped with a pierced screen of small flowers connected by linear elements. Bars across the top of the screen form the lip and meet at are architectural ornaments at the corners. The bottom corners are covered by curved fleur-dis-lis stamped with floral motifs and a large sphere is center between each below the screen. Near the top of the vase are two holes opposite one another for the floral pin. The looped end of the pin attaches to length of round link chain connected to the bottom of the vase. The pin would be inserted through the vase to pierce the stems of a bouquet in order to secure the flowers inside the holder. The neck, which connects the vase to the handle, is formed from multiple parts with an ornate openwork ring over-hanging a baluster on top of a band stamped with floral decoration on a background of vertical lines. The spindle handle is made from turned mother of pearl. Mother of pearl handles retained a cool feeling longer than some other materials; because of this, they were said to be appropriate for warmer months. Near the bottom, a band encircles the handle and connects a flat figure-8 ladder chain ending in finger ring with a stamped exterior. The ring would allow the bouquet holder to be worn from the finger or on a chatelaine at the waist to free the lady's hands while dancing.

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: mother of pearl

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

label: Medium

content: Gilded brass, mother of pearl

label: Dimensions

content: 6 × 2 in. (15.2 × 5.1 cm)

label: Style

content: Gothic Revival

topic:
Tussie-mussies
Porte-fleurs
Decoration and ornament
Bouquet holders
Costume accessories
Victoriana
Posy holders
Fashion
Bouquetiers
Porte-bouquets
Mother of pearl

label: Title

content: <I>Bouquet holder, mesh with mother of pearl handle</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, MESH WITH MOTHER OF PEARL HANDLE</I>


content: ca. 1830-1920

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Stamped silver holder formed of six identical female figures and tobacco leaf repeats. Each is dressed in a headdress, necklace, and flowing skirt with boots, and are likely meant to depict the stylized ideal of the "Indian maidens" of the Americas held by Europeans. The handle is smooth and tubular and curves up to create a loop. This type of handle is sometimes referred to as a “rattail” or “spoon” handle.

content: Birmingham, England, possibly

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: silver

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

content: Silver

content: 4 1/2 × 1 1/2 in. (11.4 × 3.8 cm)

topic:
Silver
Tussie-mussies
Porte-fleurs
Decoration and ornament
Bouquet holders
Costume accessories
Victoriana
Posy holders
Fashion
Bouquetiers
Porte-bouquets

content: Birmingham

content: England

content: <I>Bouquet holder, female figure with tobacco leaf pattern, rat-tail handle</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, FEMALE FIGURE WITH TOBACCO LEAF PATTERN, RAT-TAIL HANDLE</I>

label: High-resolution TIFF

label: High-resolution JPEG

label: Screen Image

label: Thumbnail Image


label: Date

content: ca. 1830-1920

label: Period

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

label: Description

content: Silver funnel bouquet holder with straight handle. The vase is comprised of hand-engraved, machine-cut scrolling foliate designs and three progressively smaller curlicues are repeated toward the base. The lip of the vase is scalloped with engraved decoration that continue down the two seams. A hole in the middle of these engraved vertical bands is for the insertion of a floral pin. This feature secured the bouquet in place by piercing the stems in the bundle of flowers. The urn-shaped neck of the bouquet holder is unadorned with one visible seam. The handle is octagonal and made from a single sheet of metal. Each panel is engraved in an alternating pattern of ways and leaf motifs. A two-part stamped ball caps the bottom of the handle and connects to a looped round-link round link chains ending in a floral pin, the tip of which is broken off. There are also the remnants of second chain which would have attached to a ring that allowed the bouquet holder to be worn from the finger or on a chatelaine at the waist to free the lady's hands while dancing.

label: Label Text

content: Great Britain, possibly

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: silver

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

content: Silver

content: 5 × 1 1/8 in. (12.7 × 2.9 cm)

content: Rococo Revival

content: Great Britain

content: <I>Bouquet holder, octagonal handle</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, OCTAGONAL HANDLE</I>

title: <I>Bouquet holder, octagonal handle</I>


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Bouquet holder with gilded-brass vase and enamel handle. Four repeats of stamped curvilinear and rectilinear forms this ornate vase. Near the top of the vase is a pair of opposite holes through the central rectilinear elements for a floral pin. The pin would be inserted through the vase to pierce the stems of a bouquet in order to secure the flowers inside the holder. The vase connects to the handle with a neck band stamped with floral decoration on a background of vertical lines. The handle is composed of dark blue enamel on copper sheet with silver paillons and is capped with a gilded brass finial. This design recalls eighteenth-century French porcelain and appealed to the desire for historicism in design that was characteristic of the nineteenth century.

content: Flowers used for personal adornment were a popular, almost mandatory, fashion accessory in the nineteenth century. Small bouquets, called nosegays, posies, or tussie mussies were carried by debutantes, matrons, and girls, and they were a popular gift in the mid to late 1800s among friends and suitors. They were typically created in concentric rings of flowers, tightly wound together, and were often tied with ribbon or placed in a bouquet holder depending on the tastes and fashions. By the 1830s carrying small bouquets of flowers in decorative holders was an established fashion accessory of the upper class and royalty of Europe. These small accessories, also known as posy holders, ‘porte-bouquets’, and ‘bouquetiers’ were both decorative as well as useful. By providing a water source in the bottom of the receptacle, they were able to keep the flowers fresh throughout an occasion, and they also protected the wearer’s gloves or clothing from being stained by the plant pigments. Queen Victoria helped popularize the bouquet holder, and she is seen holding one in her portrait “Queen Victoria at the Drury Lane Theatre, November 1837” painted by E.T. Parris. When the fashion of carrying hand bouquets in decorative holders caught the fancy of the wealthy and middle class, holders were copied and mass produced in a variety of sizes, materials, and embellishments. During the second half of the nineteenth century, holders might be commissioned or purchased from the stock at a jeweler or florist shop. Few were made in the United States, instead they were usually imported from Europe and Asia. They were often given as a commemorative memento of historic encounters or events by the royalty and courts of Europe, but they were also used to celebrate and commemorate important, though less prestigious, events of the wealthy and middle class. Bouquet holders reached the peak of their popularity between the 1830s and 1880s, but it began to dwindle as bouquets of long-stemmed flowers (the latest horticultural development) loosely tied with ribbons surpassed the posy bouquet style. They were not totally out of fashion until the “Roaring Twenties,” when such objects became regarded as trivial and useless. The diversity of styles and mechanisms of bouquet holders is evidence of their longevity as a fashion accessory.

label: Origin

content: France, possibly

label: Topic

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: enamel

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

label: See more items in

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

label: Credit Line

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

content: Gilded brass, enamel, silver

content: 5 × 1 1/2 in. (12.7 × 3.8 cm)

content: Rococo Revival

topic:
Tussie-mussies
Porte-fleurs
Decoration and ornament
Bouquet holders
Costume accessories
Victoriana
Enamel
Posy holders
Fashion
Bouquetiers
Porte-bouquets

content: France

content: <I>Bouquet holder, ornate with enamel handle</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, ORNATE WITH ENAMEL HANDLE</I>


content: ca. 1879-1962

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: The anchor flower arrangement was difficult to arrange. It required tight work and precise outlining, or the shape of the flower frame would be lost. It was appropriate to send to the funeral of men or women of any age. Anchors are symbolic of many things but was primarily associated with hope in the nineteenth century. The anchor was also an attribute of the allegory of Hope, who was one of the most popular allegories in both the home and the cemetery. The anchor was also the seaman’s last resort in the storm, and all his hopes for deliverance from the rough seas were placed in it. The characteristics of the anchor as a solid, heavy object whose weight held the ship secure made it symbolic of steadfastness and strength of character. Its ability to hold fast amid the pressures of whatever currents, also implied tranquility and faithfulness in the deceased. Many fraternal emblems also incorporated the anchor into their insignia, and anchor flower frames were often given by fellow members of an organization. The anchor was often used in its capacity of a marine symbol for boating as well, and it was given to members of the sailing profession, the navy, and the coast guard. Flower frame designs of national symbols and emblems of the military branch of the fallen celebrated their patriotism at the funerals of active military and veterans. Often flowers the same color as the American flag were employed in arrangements, such as roses, carnations, and cornflowers to create that patriotic red, white, and blue color scheme. Nationally symbolic designs such as anchors, American flags, eagles, and many other designs were also displayed in shop windows and at ceremonies for holidays such as Independence Day and Memorial Day. These designs remained popular into the twentieth century.

content: emblems (symbols)

content: Floral frames

content: frame components

content: wire

content: anchors (watercraft equipment)

content: armed forces

content: associations

content: ceremonies

content: decorations

content: Floral Accessories

content: Floral decorations

content: floral designers

content: Flower arrangement

content: funerals

content: funerary objects

content: secret societies

content: societies

content: symbols

content: weddings

content: wirework

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens, Horticultural Artifacts Collection. Gift of H. Weber & Sons Company.

label: Data Source

content: Smithsonian Gardens

label: Accession number

label: Type

content: Floral frames

label: Restrictions & Rights

content: Wire

content: 13 1/2 × 9 1/2 × 1 1/2 in. (34.3 × 24.1 × 3.8 cm)

topic:
Funerary objects
Frame components
Floral designers
Floral decorations
Floral frames
Wire
Associations
Floral Accessories
Secret societies
Weddings
Rites and ceremonies
Decorations
Wirework
Funeral rites and ceremonies
Flower arrangement
Emblems
Anchors (watercraft equipment)
Military

content: <I>Wire frame, anchor</I>

title_sort: <I>WIRE FRAME, ANCHOR</I>

title: <I>Wire frame, anchor</I>


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Gilded brass with enamel bouquet holder with glass handle. The vase is formed with a crown-like rim band held up with seven pairs of spear-shaped elements. The crown portion is embellished with ornate Gothic Revival motifs with white and blue enamel. There are two holes, opposite one another, near the top for the floral pin connected by a round-link chain to the base of the vase. The pin would be inserted through the vase to pierce the stems of a bouquet in order to secure the flowers inside the holder. The lower portion of the vase is stamped with a beaded rim around a column of graduated hemispheres encircled by gadrooning. The neck, which connects the vase to the handle, is in the form of a baluster above a circle of horseshoe shaped elements drooping over a neck band stamped with a floral motif on vertical-line background. The tapered spindle handle is made from turned mother of pearl. Mother of pearl handles retained a cool feeling longer than some other materials; because of this, they were said to be appropriate for warmer months. Near the tip of the handle, there is a gold ring that probably held chain with ring, which no longer present.

content: France, possibly

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: mother of pearl

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens, Horticultural Artifacts Collection. Gift of Frances Jones Poetker.

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

label: Medium

content: Gilded metal, mother of pearl

label: Dimensions

content: 5 1/2 × 1 1/2 in. (14 × 3.8 cm)

label: Style

content: Renaissance Revival

content: France

label: Title

content: <I>Bouquet holder, crown vase, mother of pearl handle</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, CROWN VASE, MOTHER OF PEARL HANDLE</I>


content: ca. 1879-1962

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: The practice of using flowers at weddings is a time-honored tradition across cultures and religions. In the nineteenth century in America, wedding ceremonies were generally held in the bride’s home, and the floral arrangements were the primary form decoration. Set pieces such as a suspended bell, ox yoke, lock and key, lover’s knots, and monograms were popular wedding designs created using wire forms and were usually the most impressive arrangements. The set pieces were placed in the most visible locations, such as in front of mirrors or over the fireplace, and they were hung from the ceiling in doorways and archways of the bay window or elevated on the mantle. A bell of fresh flowers was frequently used to designate the place where the wedding ceremony would take place. The bell would often have ribbons, streamers, and even garlands of flowers hanging down or radiating out from it or the clapper might be replaced with a dove holding orange blossoms in its beak. The bell flower frame was also popular for church holidays and special occasions, especially at Christmas time.

content: Set pieces or set designs were among the most popular floral arrangements in the second half of the nineteenth century. The term set piece is a usually applied to designs in a wide variety of forms, which are often symbolic in character. Shapes that expressed an overall theme for an occasion were very fashionable, such as designs made to depict the profession, associations, or hobbies of an individual. These flower arrangements were ordered for special celebrations, holidays, weddings, and funerals. Typical of the Victorian style, these designs were elaborate and massive, but unlike other forms of flower arrangement, the set piece was exclusively made by the professional florist.

content: Set pieces were usually made up on wire frames in the desired shape, which acted as a foundation for the floral arrangement. Commercially produced, heavy-gaged wire frames, fabricated from either plain or copper-plated wire, became available for flower arrangements between 1860 and 1864. The retail florist business was enhanced considerably by the high demand for arrangements on flower frames in the nineteenth century, and wire frames quickly became the basis of the retail florist’s inventory. The frames could be obtained for little cost to the florist, and if he managed to retrieve the skeleton after the occasion, it could be reused. Wire frames came in both straight and curved outlines and either as a box (three-dimensional frame) or flat frame. Most designs came in several sizes and could be hung or placed on a stand or were free-standing. Standard forms in wire works catalogues ranged in size from 10 to 60 inches. Outside of the standard frame designs offered in wireworks and florist’s supplies catalogues, designs could be made for almost any occasion, with some large enough to make life-sized reproductions.

content: Over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth century floral fashions changed. Some set pieces faded in popularity by the early 1900s, but some remained favorites well into the 1940’s. Many of these same designs are still used today, but the wire frames have been replaced by shapes made from more modern materials to save the florists’ time in making up the arrangement, as well as providing water to the flowers allowing for greater longevity.

content: emblems (symbols)

content: Floral frames

content: frame components

content: wire

content: bells and sets of bells

content: ceremonies

content: decorations

content: Floral Accessories

content: Floral decorations

content: floral designers

content: Flower arrangement

content: holidays

content: symbols

content: weddings

content: wirework

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Floral frames

content: Wire

content: 30 × 24 × 24 in. (76.2 × 61 × 61 cm)

topic:
Frame components
Floral designers
Floral decorations
Floral frames
Wire
Floral Accessories
Weddings
Rites and ceremonies
Decorations
Holidays
Wirework
Flower arrangement
Bells and sets of bells
Emblems

content: <I>Wire frame, bell, large</I>

title_sort: <I>WIRE FRAME, BELL, LARGE</I>

label: High-resolution TIFF

label: High-resolution JPEG

label: Screen Image

label: Thumbnail Image

title: <I>Wire frame, bell, large</I>


label: Date

label: Period

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

label: Description

content: Silver filigree asymmetrical vase and handle. The vase of the bouquet holder is angled so that one side is higher than the rest. The lip is topped with open crockets along a thin filigreed ribbon. Below the lip, the vase is formed from curlicues and granulations of delicate silver branching off central bands, which extend vertically. Below is a register of crockets over three rows of applied silver beads. A band of smooth metal separates these elaborate sections from a solid base with a series of ovals with a textured surface. This type of silver filigree is typical of bouquet holders made in India. At its base, a ring is soldered onto which is looped a short length of foxtail chain ending in soldered-head floral pin. This pin could be inserted through the vase and stems in order to secure a small bundle of flowers inside. The handle is slightly curved and capped with a ball. It is incised with diagonal and vertical dotted ribbons stamped in two parts that meet at a central vein extending the length of the handle. It is capped with a small cone-shaped knob.

label: Label Text

content: India, possibly

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: filigree

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: silver

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

content: Silver

content: 7 × 1 1/2 in. (17.8 × 3.8 cm)

content: Gothic Revival

topic:
Silver
Tussie-mussies
Porte-fleurs
Decoration and ornament
Bouquet holders
Costume accessories
Victoriana
Posy holders
Fashion
Bouquetiers
Porte-bouquets
Filigree

content: India

content: <I>Bouquet holder, filigree with twisted handle</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, FILIGREE WITH TWISTED HANDLE</I>


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Copper bouquet holder with silver plating. The vase is formed in a pierced design of leaves, stemmed flowers and two bees perched on the leaves. The handle is hexagonal with panels stamped with a column of foliate motifs facing in alternating directions. A large-ball finial completes the design.

label: Origin

content: Birmingham, England, possibly

label: Topic

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: copper

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: silver

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

label: See more items in

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

label: Exhibition

content: Floral Fashions: From Bouquets to Buttonholes

label: On View

content: Smithsonian Institution, Quadrangle, S. Dillon Ripley Center

label: Credit Line

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

content: Copper, silver

content: 6 × 1 1/2 in. (15.2 × 3.8 cm)

content: Rococo Revival

building: Quadrangle

content: Birmingham

content: England

object_type:
Bouquet holders
Copper (metal)

content: <I>Bouquet holder, leaves, flowers & bees</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, LEAVES, FLOWERS & BEES</I>


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Gilded metal bouquet holder with marble beads and mother of pearl handle. The vase is comprised of openwork scroll set with two round, green beads. The neck, which connects the vase to the handle, is formed from a sphere above a band stamped with reeding. A short length of chain connects a floral pin to the neck. The pin would be inserted through the vase to pierce the stems of a bouquet in order to secure the flowers inside the holder. The spindle handle is made from turned mother of pearl. Mother of pearl handles retained a cool feeling longer than some other materials; because of this, they were said to be appropriate for warmer months. A second length of chain connected to a ring is attached to loop around the tip of the handle. The ring would allow the bouquet holder to be worn from the finger or on a chatelaine at the waist to free the lady's hands while dancing.

content: Flowers used for personal adornment were a popular, almost mandatory, fashion accessory in the nineteenth century. Small bouquets, called nosegays, posies, or tussie mussies were carried by debutantes, matrons, and girls, and they were a popular gift in the mid to late 1800s among friends and suitors. They were typically created in concentric rings of flowers, tightly wound together, and were often tied with ribbon or placed in a bouquet holder depending on the tastes and fashions. By the 1830s carrying small bouquets of flowers in decorative holders was an established fashion accessory of the upper class and royalty of Europe. These small accessories, also known as posy holders, ‘porte-bouquets’, and ‘bouquetiers’ were both decorative as well as useful. By providing a water source in the bottom of the receptacle, they were able to keep the flowers fresh throughout an occasion, and they also protected the wearer’s gloves or clothing from being stained by the plant pigments. Queen Victoria helped popularize the bouquet holder, and she is seen holding one in her portrait “Queen Victoria at the Drury Lane Theatre, November 1837” painted by E.T. Parris. When the fashion of carrying hand bouquets in decorative holders caught the fancy of the wealthy and middle class, holders were copied and mass produced in a variety of sizes, materials, and embellishments. During the second half of the nineteenth century, holders might be commissioned or purchased from the stock at a jeweler or florist shop. Few were made in the United States, instead they were usually imported from Europe and Asia. They were often given as a commemorative memento of historic encounters or events by the royalty and courts of Europe, but they were also used to celebrate and commemorate important, though less prestigious, events of the wealthy and middle class. Bouquet holders reached the peak of their popularity between the 1830s and 1880s, but it began to dwindle as bouquets of long-stemmed flowers (the latest horticultural development) loosely tied with ribbons surpassed the posy bouquet style. They were not totally out of fashion until the “Roaring Twenties,” when such objects became regarded as trivial and useless. The diversity of styles and mechanisms of bouquet holders is evidence of their longevity as a fashion accessory.

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: mother of pearl

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

label: Data Source

content: Smithsonian Gardens

label: Accession number

label: Type

content: Bouquet holders

label: Restrictions & Rights

label: Medium

content: Gilded metal, marble, mother of pearl

label: Dimensions

content: 6 3/4 × 1 1/4 in. (17.1 × 3.2 cm)

content: Renaissance Revival

content: <I>Bouquet holder, green beads, mother of pearl handle</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, GREEN BEADS, MOTHER OF PEARL HANDLE</I>


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Silver holder with a spoon-type handle. The vase of this posy holder is designed with bunches of grapes and large grape leaves along a curvaceous vine with tendril-like growths along it. A pin on a chain is attached, which would be inserted through holes in the vase in order to secure the stems of the flowers into the holder. A second, shorter length of chain attaches a ring to the bouquet holder. This feature allowed one to wear the bouquet holder from the finger, or it could be clipped to a chatelaine worn at the waist to free the lady's hands while dancing. The handle is smooth and tubular and curves up to create a loop. This type of handle is sometimes referred to as a “rattail” or “spoon” handle.

content: Birmingham, England, possibly

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: silver

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

content: Silver

content: 4 1/2 × 1 1/2 in. (11.4 × 3.8 cm)

label: Style

content: Naturalism

content: Birmingham

content: England

label: Title

content: <I>Bouquet holder, grapes and leaves motif, loop handle</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, GRAPES AND LEAVES MOTIF, LOOP HANDLE</I>

label: High-resolution TIFF

label: High-resolution JPEG

label: Screen Image

label: Thumbnail Image


label: Date

label: Period

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

label: Description

content: Silver bouquet holder with tripod base. The funnel-shaped vase is comprised of leaves, blossoms, and berries on the vine. The neck, which would have connected the vase to the handle, is decorated with filigree leaves alternating with applied silver flowers on long, slender stems. A short length of chain is attached below the neck and terminates in a floral pin, which would be inserted through the vase to pierce the stems of a bouquet in order to secure the flowers inside the holder. A ring is also attached to the chain at the neck. The ring would allow the bouquet holder to be worn from the finger or on a chatelaine at the waist to free the lady's hands while dancing. The handle of the bouquet holder also serves as a tripod stand. This would allow the bouquet holder to act as a free-standing table or mantle ornament. Three curved panels spring out, each with a substantial foot at the end to add stability. The legs are decorated with a stamped design of flowers within lozenges. The when the legs were secured together, they acted as a straight, stem handle for the bouquet holder.

label: Label Text

label: Origin

content: Birmingham, England, possibly

label: Topic

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: silver

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens, Horticultural Artifacts Collection. Gift of Frances Jones Poetker.

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

content: Silver

content: 7 × 1 1/2 in. (17.8 × 3.8 cm)

content: Naturalism

content: Birmingham

content: England

content: <I>Bouquet holder, leaf motif, tripod</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, LEAF MOTIF, TRIPOD</I>


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Cone-shaped bouquet holder of silver and rhinestones. This bouquet holder would be worn as brooch and not carried. It is engraved with botanical motifs within a border outlining the shape of the vase. Silver leaves with stylized vein motifs are applied to the base. Out of these stem a small siliver flower and a curly vine toped with a lobed botanical representation. On the central stalk is a large flower made of six round rhinestones that surround a central stone. A chain attaches to the bottom of the vase that connects to a pin. This pin is inserted through as small hole in the side of the vase in order to keep the bouquet from falling out. The back is engraved with the initials "MLL."

label: Inscription(s)

content: Back is engraved with initials "MLL"

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: silver

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: paste (glass)

content: Victoriana

label: See more items in

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

label: Credit Line

label: Data Source

content: Smithsonian Gardens

label: Accession number

content: Bouquet holders

content: Silver, paste

content: 2 3/4 × 1 1/4 in. (7 × 3.2 cm)

topic:
Silver
Tussie-mussies
Porte-fleurs
Decoration and ornament
Bouquet holders
Costume accessories
Victoriana
Posy holders
Fashion
Bouquetiers
Porte-bouquets
Paste (glass)

content: <I>Bouquet holder, flower motif, paste stones</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, FLOWER MOTIF, PASTE STONES</I>


content: ca. 1860-1940

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: In mourning symbolism, symbols of rest and peace were popular and consoling options. The pillow was symbolic of comfort, peace, and rest. Because of its domestic connotations, it was also indicative of family and home. Historically, this frame design was one of the most popular set pieces, and it was considered appropriate for all ages and genders. The most frequently used frame size was 16 x 24 inches. While the form of the pillow was simple, florists could use considerable variation in making it up. Inscriptions were frequently applied to the pillow design, and the pillow was frequently chosen when the sender wanted to have a word or phrase included in their arrangement. “Rest” or “At Rest” were the two most common inscriptions for the pillow. Other options included the name of the deceased, or script to indicate the relation of the deceased to the sender, such as “Father,” “Mother,” “Son,” “Daughter,” “Sister,” “Brother,” “Aunt,” “Uncle,” or “Baby.” One of the most popular inscriptions for the pillow among Christians was “Asleep in Jesus.” It was considered especially sentimental on the frames made for the funerals of young children.

content: Set pieces or set designs were among the most popular floral arrangements in the second half of the nineteenth century. The term set piece is a usually applied to designs in a wide variety of forms, which are often symbolic in character. Shapes that expressed an overall theme for an occasion were very fashionable, such as designs made to depict the profession, associations, or hobbies of an individual. These flower arrangements were ordered for special celebrations, holidays, weddings, and funerals. Typical of the Victorian style, these designs were elaborate and massive, but unlike other forms of flower arrangement, the set piece was exclusively made by the professional florist.

content: Set pieces were usually made up on wire frames in the desired shape, which acted as a foundation for the floral arrangement. Commercially produced, heavy-gaged wire frames, fabricated from either plain or copper-plated wire, became available for flower arrangements between 1860 and 1864. The retail florist business was enhanced considerably by the high demand for arrangements on flower frames in the nineteenth century, and wire frames quickly became the basis of the retail florist’s inventory. The frames could be obtained for little cost to the florist, and if he managed to retrieve the skeleton after the occasion, it could be reused. Wire frames came in both straight and curved outlines and either as a box (three-dimensional frame) or flat frame. Most designs came in several sizes and could be hung or placed on a stand or were free-standing. Standard forms in wire works catalogues ranged in size from 10 to 60 inches. Outside of the standard frame designs offered in wireworks and florist’s supplies catalogues, designs could be made for almost any occasion, with some large enough to make life-sized reproductions.

content: Over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth century floral fashions changed. Some set pieces faded in popularity by the early 1900s, but some remained favorites well into the 1940’s. Many of these same designs are still used today, but the wire frames have been replaced by shapes made from more modern materials to save the florists’ time in making up the arrangement, as well as providing water to the flowers allowing for greater longevity.

content: emblems (symbols)

content: Floral frames

content: frame components

content: wire

content: associations

content: ceremonies

content: decorations

content: Floral Accessories

content: Floral decorations

content: floral designers

content: Flower arrangement

content: funerals

content: funerary objects

content: symbols

content: wirework

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens, Horticultural Artifacts Collection.

content: Smithsonian Gardens

label: Type

content: Floral frames

label: Restrictions & Rights

label: Medium

content: Wire

label: Dimensions

content: 9 × 6 × 8 in. (22.9 × 15.2 × 20.3 cm)

topic:
Funerary objects
Frame components
Floral designers
Floral decorations
Floral frames
Wire
Associations
Floral Accessories
Rites and ceremonies
Decorations
Wirework
Funeral rites and ceremonies
Flower arrangement
Emblems

content: <I>Wire frames, pillow, small</I>

title_sort: <I>WIRE FRAMES, PILLOW, SMALL</I>

title: <I>Wire frames, pillow, small</I>


content: ca. 1880

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: The lyre was a popular design for funeral flower tributes in the nineteenth century. It could be free standing, hung, or placed on a pillow or within a wreath or crescent. The lyre was appropriate for both men and women, the young and the old. The Greek lyre was a symbol of music in classical times and one of Apollo’s attributes. Representing harmony between heaven and earth, the lyre was a symbol, as well as an instrument, of both peace and musical talent. The lyre often will have a broken string to symbolize the life that has been cut short. The strings could be made from a variety of materials including flowers, wire, and fabric strips such as chenille. Some of the most popular designs in funeral flowers in the late nineteenth century were those that appealed to the sentimentality of the period. These flower frame designs were both more decorative and more personal in their references. Shapes alluded to lives cut short and the loss of cherished relationships.

content: emblems (symbols)

content: Floral frames

content: frame components

content: wire

content: associations

content: ceremonies

content: decorations

content: Floral Accessories

content: Floral decorations

content: floral designers

content: Flower arrangement

content: funerals

content: funerary objects

content: lyres

content: secret societies

content: societies

content: symbols

content: weddings

content: wirework

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Floral frames

content: Wire

content: 24 × 14 × 1 in. (61 × 35.6 × 2.5 cm)

topic:
Funerary objects
Frame components
Floral designers
Floral decorations
Floral frames
Wire
Associations
Floral Accessories
Secret societies
Weddings
Rites and ceremonies
Decorations
Wirework
Funeral rites and ceremonies
Lyres
Flower arrangement
Emblems

label: Title

content: <I>Wire frame, lyre, medium</I>

title_sort: <I>WIRE FRAME, LYRE, MEDIUM</I>

label: High-resolution TIFF

label: High-resolution JPEG

label: Screen Image

title: <I>Wire frame, lyre, medium</I>


label: Date

content: ca. 1879-1962

label: Period

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

label: Description

content: It was common for social or business organizations to send flowers to the funerals of deceased members in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Flowers were sent by friendly and fraternal societies, temperance leagues, social clubs, veteran’s organization, and worker’s unions, among others. The floral tributes were often set pieces patterned after the emblem of the organization or club with flowers and ribbons in their colors. Designs had to be recognizable, thus accuracy was important for the florist, each flower frame must be made to an exact shape and carefully arranged with flowers in the appropriate colors. Depending on the size of the floral recreation, elements might be added or subtracted while maintaining an accurate overall impression of the emblem. In addition to the organization’s emblem recreated on flower frames, many of their other symbols, or assemblages of multiple symbols were recreated out of wire frames for floral arrangements. Emblem set pieces were also used for organizational functions other than just funerals, such as private ceremonies or special events sponsored by the group. Organizational emblem frames often comprised a significant portion of floral frame trade catalogs.

content: emblems (symbols)

content: Floral frames

content: frame components

content: wire

content: associations

content: axes (tools)

content: ceremonies

content: decorations

content: Floral Accessories

content: Floral decorations

content: floral designers

content: Flower arrangement

content: funerals

content: funerary objects

content: secret societies

content: societies

content: symbols

content: wirework

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens, Horticultural Artifacts Collection. Gift of H. Weber & Sons Company.

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Floral frames

content: Wire

topic:
Funerary objects
Frame components
Floral designers
Floral decorations
Floral frames
Wire
Associations
Floral Accessories
Secret societies
Rites and ceremonies
Decorations
Wirework
Funeral rites and ceremonies
Flower arrangement
Axes
Emblems

content: <I>Wire frame, Woodsmen's emblem</I>

title_sort: <I>WIRE FRAME, WOODSMEN'S EMBLEM</I>

label: Thumbnail Image

title: <I>Wire frame, Woodsmen's emblem</I>


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Gilded metal or brass bouquet holder with ivory handle. The funnel-shaped vase is comprised of six stamped lotus petals. A moveable ring within the vase would secure the bouquet in the holder. The handle is composed of turned ivory. A band is looped around the end and connects a broken chain.

label: Label Text

content: Flowers used for personal adornment were a popular, almost mandatory, fashion accessory in the nineteenth century. Small bouquets, called nosegays, posies, or tussie mussies were carried by debutantes, matrons, and girls, and they were a popular gift in the mid to late 1800s among friends and suitors. They were typically created in concentric rings of flowers, tightly wound together, and were often tied with ribbon or placed in a bouquet holder depending on the tastes and fashions. By the 1830s carrying small bouquets of flowers in decorative holders was an established fashion accessory of the upper class and royalty of Europe. These small accessories, also known as posy holders, ‘porte-bouquets’, and ‘bouquetiers’ were both decorative as well as useful. By providing a water source in the bottom of the receptacle, they were able to keep the flowers fresh throughout an occasion, and they also protected the wearer’s gloves or clothing from being stained by the plant pigments. Queen Victoria helped popularize the bouquet holder, and she is seen holding one in her portrait “Queen Victoria at the Drury Lane Theatre, November 1837” painted by E.T. Parris. When the fashion of carrying hand bouquets in decorative holders caught the fancy of the wealthy and middle class, holders were copied and mass produced in a variety of sizes, materials, and embellishments. During the second half of the nineteenth century, holders might be commissioned or purchased from the stock at a jeweler or florist shop. Few were made in the United States, instead they were usually imported from Europe and Asia. They were often given as a commemorative memento of historic encounters or events by the royalty and courts of Europe, but they were also used to celebrate and commemorate important, though less prestigious, events of the wealthy and middle class. Bouquet holders reached the peak of their popularity between the 1830s and 1880s, but it began to dwindle as bouquets of long-stemmed flowers (the latest horticultural development) loosely tied with ribbons surpassed the posy bouquet style. They were not totally out of fashion until the “Roaring Twenties,” when such objects became regarded as trivial and useless. The diversity of styles and mechanisms of bouquet holders is evidence of their longevity as a fashion accessory.

label: Topic

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

content: Gilded metal or brass, ivory

content: 6 × 1 1/2 in. (15.2 × 3.8 cm)

content: <I>Bouquet holder, petals, ivory handle</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, PETALS, IVORY HANDLE</I>


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Silver bouquet holder with straight handle. The funnel-shaped vase features a pierced panel design with stamped decoration. A floral pin is inserted through the side of the vase. The initials “A.H.” are etched into one on the panels. The pin would be inserted through the vase to pierce the stems of a bouquet in order to secure the flowers inside the holder. A short length of chain connects a ring to the base of the vase. The ring would allow the bouquet holder to be worn from the finger or on a chatelaine at the waist to free the lady's hands while dancing. The baluster handle is capped with a ball finial.

label: Inscription(s)

content: etched bellflower initials A.H. in shield

label: Origin

content: Great Britain, possibly

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: silver

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

label: See more items in

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

label: Credit Line

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

content: Silver

content: 6 × 1 1/2 in. (15.2 × 3.8 cm)

content: Great Britain

content: <I>Bouquet holder, tulips</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, TULIPS</I>

title: <I>Bouquet holder, tulips</I>


content: ca. 1912-1913

content: Art Deco (ca.1908-1935)

content: Silver conical auto vase and chain. This auto vase is hexagonal with six unadorned sides and a point capped with a ball. A chain attaches at two points which allowed the vase to be hung in the car. The opening of the vase is round and much smaller than its size. This was likely a design choice to help keep the flowers secure in the vase.

content: The auto vase, a term coined by Henry Ford, began to appear in automobiles as early as 1895. These automobile accessories not only improved the smell, but also added a touch of elegance to any vehicle’s interior. Henry Ford was so pleased with these decorative “air-fresheners,” that he offered them in his parts department and added them to his system of mass production. An auto vase is comprised of a small bud vase with a bracket that allowed it to be mounted inside the car either on the dashboard or by the passenger side window. Vases came in many designs and colors and in a variety of price ranges. Pressed glass, cut crystal, metal, porcelain, ceramic, and even wood was used for the vases, and were often paired with brackets that were fancier than the vases themselves. These could be made of silver or even be gold plated. Auto vases were sold in jewelry stores, auto parts stores, and catalogs from companies such as Sears. By the 1930’s, with improvements in car batteries and air-conditioning becoming standard in vehicles, the auto vase was no longer necessary, and it faded out of use.

label: Mark(s)

content: Country of Origin: Lion passant (England)

content: City/Region of Origin: 3 wheat sheaves on shield (Chester)

content: Date letter: script M (1912-1913)

content: Makers Mark: JD/WD

content: Chester, England

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: silver

content: tussie-mussies

content: vases

content: automobiles

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens, Horticultural Artifacts Collection. Gift of Frances Jones Poetker.

label: Data Source

content: Smithsonian Gardens

label: Accession number

label: Type

content: Bouquet holders

content: Vases

content: Vases-Auto vases

label: Restrictions & Rights

content: Silver

content: 4 1/4 × 1 3/4 in. (10.8 × 4.4 cm)

label: Style

content: Art Deco

place: Chester England

topic:
Tussie-mussies
Porte-fleurs
Bouquet holders
Costume accessories
Fashion
Automobiles
Silver
Decoration and ornament
Victoriana
Posy holders
Bouquetiers
Porte-bouquets
Vases

content: Chester

content: England

object_type:
Bouquet holders
Vases-Auto vases
Vases

content: <I>Auto vase, silver</I>

title_sort: <I>AUTO VASE, SILVER</I>

title: <I>Auto vase, silver</I>


content: ca. 1879-1962

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: The harp was a popular design for funeral flower tributes in the nineteenth century. It could be free standing, hung, placed on a pillow, or within a wreath or crescent. The harp was appropriate for both men and women, the young and the old. Like the lyre flower frame, the harp represented harmony between heaven and earth, and it was a symbol of both peace and musical talent. The harp flower frames were especially popular for young and adult women due to the angelic theme. The Silent Harp design would be given a snapped string to indicate that the harp would play no more to exemplify the loved one silenced by death. The strings could be made from a variety of materials including flowers, wire, and fabric strips such as chenille.

content: Set pieces or set designs were among the most popular floral arrangements in the second half of the nineteenth century. The term set piece is a usually applied to designs in a wide variety of forms, which are often symbolic in character. Shapes that expressed an overall theme for an occasion were very fashionable, such as designs made to depict the profession, associations, or hobbies of an individual. These flower arrangements were ordered for special celebrations, holidays, weddings, and funerals. Typical of the Victorian style, these designs were elaborate and massive, but unlike other forms of flower arrangement, the set piece was exclusively made by the professional florist.

content: emblems (symbols)

content: Floral frames

content: frame components

content: wire

content: associations

content: ceremonies

content: decorations

content: Floral Accessories

content: Floral decorations

content: floral designers

content: Flower arrangement

content: funerals

content: funerary objects

content: harps (chordophones)

content: secret societies

content: societies

content: symbols

content: weddings

content: wirework

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Floral frames

label: Medium

content: Wire

label: Dimensions

content: 41 1/2 × 22 × 11 1/2 in. (105.4 × 55.9 × 29.2 cm)

topic:
Funerary objects
Frame components
Floral designers
Floral decorations
Harps (chordophones)
Floral frames
Wire
Associations
Floral Accessories
Secret societies
Weddings
Rites and ceremonies
Decorations
Wirework
Funeral rites and ceremonies
Flower arrangement
Emblems

label: Title

content: <I>Wire frame, harp on stand</I>

title_sort: <I>WIRE FRAME, HARP ON STAND</I>

label: High-resolution TIFF

label: High-resolution JPEG

label: Screen Image

title: <I>Wire frame, harp on stand</I>


label: Date

label: Period

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

label: Description

content: Silver bouquet holder with curved handle. The vase is comprised of grape clusters and leaves looped over a wire ring, which functions as the lip. Below the clusters, large upright leaves make up the bottom of the vase. The neck, which connects the vase to the handle, is long with slender upright leaves alternating with flowers on a thin stem. The curved, tubular handle is hand engraved and capped with a ball. A shorth length of chain is connected to the top of the handle which would have connected to a floral pin or finger ring.

label: Label Text

content: Birmingham, England, possibly

label: Topic

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: silver

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

content: Silver

content: 6 × 2 in. (15.2 × 5.1 cm)

content: Aesthetic Movement

content: Birmingham

content: England

content: <I>Bouquet holder, grape and leaf motif</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, GRAPE AND LEAF MOTIF</I>

label: Thumbnail Image


content: ca. 1879-1962

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: It was common for social or business organizations to send flowers to the funerals of deceased members in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Flowers were sent by friendly and fraternal societies, temperance leagues, social clubs, veteran’s organization, and worker’s unions, among others. The floral tributes were often set pieces patterned after the emblem of the organization or club with flowers and ribbons in their colors. Designs had to be recognizable, thus accuracy was important for the florist, each flower frame must be made to an exact shape and carefully arranged with flowers in the appropriate colors. Depending on the size of the floral recreation, elements might be added or subtracted while maintaining an accurate overall impression of the emblem. In addition to the organization’s emblem recreated on flower frames, many of their other symbols, or assemblages of multiple symbols were recreated out of wire frames for floral arrangements. Emblem set pieces were also used for organizational functions other than just funerals, such as private ceremonies or special events sponsored by the group. Organizational emblem frames often comprised a significant portion of floral frame trade catalogs. Freemason emblems were the most frequently ordered flower frame designs from the florist. Freemasonry is the oldest and most influential fraternal society in the United States. Also known as the Masons, this society came to the United States in 1720, and many of America’s founding fathers were brothers in this fraternity. The mid-nineteenth-century Mason could also belong to many different auxiliary organizations such as the Knights Templars, the Shriners, and the Order of the Eastern Star each of which had flower frames representing their insignia. It was also the largest fraternal body in America and remains so to this day. The primary emblem of the Masons was the square and compass, said to be symbolic of the interaction between mind and matter, inside of which is the letter G, symbolic of either God or geometry. Additional designs for the Masonic ceremonies and funerals included the Maltese cross, Keystone, Masonic Bible, banner, and scroll of honor.

content: Set pieces were usually made up on wire frames in the desired shape, which acted as a foundation for the floral arrangement. Commercially produced, heavy-gaged wire frames, fabricated from either plain or copper-plated wire, became available for flower arrangements between 1860 and 1864. The retail florist business was enhanced considerably by the high demand for arrangements on flower frames in the nineteenth century, and wire frames quickly became the basis of the retail florist’s inventory. The frames could be obtained for little cost to the florist, and if he managed to retrieve the skeleton after the occasion, it could be reused. Wire frames came in both straight and curved outlines and either as a box (three-dimensional frame) or flat frame. Most designs came in several sizes and could be hung or placed on a stand or were free-standing. Standard forms in wire works catalogues ranged in size from 10 to 60 inches. Outside of the standard frame designs offered in wireworks and florist’s supplies catalogues, designs could be made for almost any occasion, with some large enough to make life-sized reproductions.

content: Over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth century floral fashions changed. Some set pieces faded in popularity by the early 1900s, but some remained favorites well into the 1940’s. Many of these same designs are still used today, but the wire frames have been replaced by shapes made from more modern materials to save the florists’ time in making up the arrangement, as well as providing water to the flowers allowing for greater longevity.

content: emblems (symbols)

content: Floral frames

content: frame components

content: wire

content: associations

content: ceremonies

content: decorations

content: Floral Accessories

content: Floral decorations

content: floral designers

content: Flower arrangement

content: funerals

content: funerary objects

content: secret societies

content: societies

content: symbols

content: wirework

label: See more items in

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

label: Credit Line

label: Data Source

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Floral frames

content: Wire

content: 24 1/2 × 12 1/2 × 3 in. (62.2 × 31.8 × 7.6 cm)

topic:
Funerary objects
Frame components
Floral designers
Floral decorations
Floral frames
Wire
Associations
Floral Accessories
Secret societies
Rites and ceremonies
Decorations
Wirework
Funeral rites and ceremonies
Flower arrangement
Emblems

content: <I>Wire frame, Masonic emblem on stand</I>

title_sort: <I>WIRE FRAME, MASONIC EMBLEM ON STAND</I>


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Silver bouquet holder with ring handle. The funnel-shaped vase is formed from two repeats featuring a column topped by a floral bouquet with flanking winged female figures. Each woman has flowing hair, bare breast, a skirt formed of leaf-like plumes, and holds an urn containing flowers. The handle begins with a closed blossom and leaves, the stem of which loops up and curls around the base creating a ring. A short length of chain connected to a ring is attached to the top of the handle. The ring would allow the bouquet holder to be worn from the finger or on a chatelaine at the waist to free the lady's hands while dancing.

content: Flowers used for personal adornment were a popular, almost mandatory, fashion accessory in the nineteenth century. Small bouquets, called nosegays, posies, or tussie mussies were carried by debutantes, matrons, and girls, and they were a popular gift in the mid to late 1800s among friends and suitors. They were typically created in concentric rings of flowers, tightly wound together, and were often tied with ribbon or placed in a bouquet holder depending on the tastes and fashions. By the 1830s carrying small bouquets of flowers in decorative holders was an established fashion accessory of the upper class and royalty of Europe. These small accessories, also known as posy holders, ‘porte-bouquets’, and ‘bouquetiers’ were both decorative as well as useful. By providing a water source in the bottom of the receptacle, they were able to keep the flowers fresh throughout an occasion, and they also protected the wearer’s gloves or clothing from being stained by the plant pigments. Queen Victoria helped popularize the bouquet holder, and she is seen holding one in her portrait “Queen Victoria at the Drury Lane Theatre, November 1837” painted by E.T. Parris. When the fashion of carrying hand bouquets in decorative holders caught the fancy of the wealthy and middle class, holders were copied and mass produced in a variety of sizes, materials, and embellishments. During the second half of the nineteenth century, holders might be commissioned or purchased from the stock at a jeweler or florist shop. Few were made in the United States, instead they were usually imported from Europe and Asia. They were often given as a commemorative memento of historic encounters or events by the royalty and courts of Europe, but they were also used to celebrate and commemorate important, though less prestigious, events of the wealthy and middle class. Bouquet holders reached the peak of their popularity between the 1830s and 1880s, but it began to dwindle as bouquets of long-stemmed flowers (the latest horticultural development) loosely tied with ribbons surpassed the posy bouquet style. They were not totally out of fashion until the “Roaring Twenties,” when such objects became regarded as trivial and useless. The diversity of styles and mechanisms of bouquet holders is evidence of their longevity as a fashion accessory.

label: Origin

content: Birmingham, England, possibly

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: silver

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens

label: Accession number

label: Type

content: Bouquet holders

label: Restrictions & Rights

content: Silver

content: 5 1/2 × 1 1/2 in. (14 × 3.8 cm)

content: Renaissance Revival

content: Birmingham

content: England

content: <I>Bouquet holder, angels</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, ANGELS</I>

title: <I>Bouquet holder, angels</I>


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Silver bouquet holder with loop handle. The vase is stamped with five repeats of a grape and leaf repeat. A hole through one of the upper leaves is for a floral pin. The pin would be inserted the vase and pierce the stems of a bouquet to secure them inside. The curved handle is formed from a stamped design of scrolling foliage that flares off the main body. The handle ends in a closed loop the reaches the midpoint of this ornate handle.

content: Birmingham, England, possibly

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: silver

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

label: Medium

content: Silver

label: Dimensions

content: 5 × 1 1/2 in. (12.7 × 3.8 cm)

label: Style

content: Naturalism

content: Birmingham

content: England

label: Title

content: <I>Bouquet holder, grape and leaf motif, loop handle</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, GRAPE AND LEAF MOTIF, LOOP HANDLE</I>


label: Date

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Silver filigree bouquet holder with pin attachment. The cornucopia-shaped holder is comprised of delicate filigree with swirls and ellipses. There is a long pin on the back held close to holder by ring. This would allow the holder to be worn attached to garments. This type of silver filigree is typical of bouquet holders made in India.

content: Flowers used for personal adornment were a popular fashion accessory throughout the 1800s up to the mid-1900s. Carrying or wearing fresh flowers was an important aspect of not only fashion but of good breeding and refined tastes. Corsages worn by women and boutonnieres worn by men were essential elements of dress for the tasteful upper- and middle-class Americans and Europeans at social functions. Many wore flowers whenever they were in public, including President McKinley, who wore a carnation in his lapel every day. In 1840, Queen Adelaide, wife of King William IV of the Great Britain and Hanover, introduced the fashion of tucking a small posy into a high waistband or sash, and Queen Victoria popularized the bouquet holder as seen in her portrait at the opera painted by E.T. Parris in 1838. By the 1830s carrying and wearing small bouquets of flowers in decorative holders was an established fashion accessory of the upper class and royalty of Europe. These small accessories, also known as posy holders, ‘porte-bouquets,’ and ‘bouquetiers’ were both decorative as well as useful. By providing a water source in the bottom of the receptacle, they were able to keep the flowers fresh throughout an occasion, and they also protected the wearer’s gloves or clothing from being stained by the plant pigments. Some had a pin or clip attachment that allowed it to be worn on the clothing. These bouquet holders were usually light weight, so not to strain the garment. Similar holders were made for men to attach to their lapels and are often referred to as a boutonniere vase. Bouquet holders were copied and mass produced in a variety of sizes, materials, and embellishments. During the second half of the nineteenth century, holders might be commissioned or purchased from the stock at a jeweler or florist shop. Few were made in the United States, instead they were usually imported from Europe and Asia. They were often given as a commemorative memento of historic encounters or events by the royalty and courts of Europe, but they were also used to celebrate and commemorate important, though less prestigious, events of the wealthy and middle class. Bouquet holders reached the peak of their popularity between the 1830s and 1880s, but it began to dwindle as bouquets of long-stemmed flowers (the latest horticultural development) loosely tied with ribbons surpassed the posy bouquet style. They were not totally out of fashion until the “Roaring Twenties,” when such objects became regarded as trivial and useless. The diversity of styles and mechanisms of bouquet holders is evidence of their longevity as a fashion accessory.

content: India, possibly

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: filigree

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: silver

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

content: Silver

content: 2 1/2 × 3/4 in. (6.4 × 1.9 cm)

content: India

content: <I>Bouquet holder, filigree, cornucopia</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, FILIGREE, CORNUCOPIA</I>

label: High-resolution TIFF

label: High-resolution JPEG

label: Screen Image


label: Period

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

label: Description

content: Gilded metal bouquet holder with spade handle. The openwork vase is comprised of ropes intertwined with rings, beaded strapwork, and foliate motifs. The ropes hang over the neck, which connects the vase to the handle, that is formed from acanthus leaves that splay outward on either side. The handle is in a Gothic Revival trefoil shape that incorporates acanthus leaves on the inner and outer surfaces.

label: Label Text

content: Birmingham, England, possibly

label: Topic

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens, Horticultural Artifacts Collection. Gift of Frances Jones Poetker.

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

content: Gilded metal

content: 6 × 2 in. (15.2 × 5.1 cm)

content: Gothic Revival

topic:
Tussie-mussies
Porte-fleurs
Decoration and ornament
Bouquet holders
Costume accessories
Victoriana
Posy holders
Fashion
Bouquetiers
Porte-bouquets

content: Birmingham

content: England

content: <I>Bouquet holder, rope motif, spade handle</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, ROPE MOTIF, SPADE HANDLE</I>


content: Twentieth century

label: Artist

content: Mark J. Burhans

content: Wooden posy holder brooch. The wood was turned with swollen middle and plastic cylinder inside. The flat back has a clasp and pin.

content: Athens, Ohio, United States of America

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: brooches

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: tussie-mussies

content: wood

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: jewelry

content: Victoriana

label: See more items in

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

label: Credit Line

label: Data Source

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

content: Wood

content: 2 7/8 × 1 13/16 in. (7.3 × 4.6 cm)

content: Contemporary

place:
United States of America
Ohio
Athens

topic:
Tussie-mussies
Porte-fleurs
Bouquet holders
Wood
Costume accessories
Fashion
Jewelry
Brooches
Decoration and ornament
Victoriana
Posy holders
Bouquetiers
Porte-bouquets

content: Athens

type: State

content: Ohio

content: United States of America

content: <I>Bouquet holder, wood, contemporary</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, WOOD, CONTEMPORARY</I>

label: Thumbnail Image


content: ca. 1879-1962

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: After the Civil War, soldiers from both the Confederate and Union armies established veteran’s organizations, with similar services and activities as those of fraternal and benevolent societies. The largest and most important of these groups was The Grand Army of the Republic, or GAR, established in 1866. Their ceremonies, rituals, and symbolism were based on the Masonic model. In addition to providing companionship and recreational activities, the GAR was instrumental in the establishment of soldiers’ homes, lobbying for soldiers’ pensions, and the national holiday and day of remembrance, Memorial Day, on May 30th. Membership in the GAR was restricted to honorably discharged veterans of the Union forces who served between April 12, 1861, and April 9, 1865. At its height membership in the GAR grew to 409,000 members, which included five U.S. presidents. Because of its restrictions on membership, the GAR was founded with “built-in extinction.” The last member of the GAR, Albert Woolson, died in 1956 at the age of 109 years. The GAR was so popular that floral frame manufacturers included their insignia in their catalogues and design albums. Nationally symbolic designs such as GAR badges, American flags, eagles, and many other designs were displayed in shop windows and at ceremonies for holidays such as Independence Day and Memorial Day. Flower frame designs of national symbols and emblems of the military branch of the fallen celebrated their patriotism at the funerals of active military and veterans. Often flowers the same color as the American flag were employed in arrangements, such as roses, carnations, and cornflowers to create that patriotic red, white, and blue color scheme. Nationally symbolic designs such as GAR badges, American flags, eagles, and many other designs were also displayed in shop windows and at ceremonies for holidays such as Independence Day and Memorial Day.

content: Set pieces or set designs were among the most popular floral arrangements in the second half of the nineteenth century. The term set piece is a usually applied to designs in a wide variety of forms, which are often symbolic in character. Shapes that expressed an overall theme for an occasion were very fashionable, such as designs made to depict the profession, associations, or hobbies of an individual. These flower arrangements were ordered for special celebrations, holidays, weddings, and funerals. Typical of the Victorian style, these designs were elaborate and massive, but unlike other forms of flower arrangement, the set piece was exclusively made by the professional florist.

content: emblems (symbols)

content: Floral frames

content: frame components

content: wire

content: armed forces

content: associations

content: ceremonies

content: decorations

content: Floral Accessories

content: Floral decorations

content: floral designers

content: Flower arrangement

content: funerals

content: funerary objects

content: holidays

content: secret societies

content: societies

content: symbols

content: wirework

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens, Horticultural Artifacts Collection. Gift of H. Weber & Sons Company.

content: Smithsonian Gardens

label: Accession number

label: Type

content: Floral frames

label: Restrictions & Rights

label: Medium

content: Wire

content: 37 × 16 1/2 × 1 in. (94 × 41.9 × 2.5 cm)

topic:
Funerary objects
Frame components
Floral designers
Floral decorations
Floral frames
Wire
Associations
Floral Accessories
Secret societies
Rites and ceremonies
Decorations
Holidays
Wirework
Funeral rites and ceremonies
Flower arrangement
Emblems
Military

content: <I>Wire frame, GAR badge</I>

title_sort: <I>WIRE FRAME, GAR BADGE</I>

title: <I>Wire frame, GAR badge</I>


label: Date

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

label: Designer

content: Robert & Josiah Walsham

content: Silver-plated bouquet holder with spade handle. The vase is pierce-cut with two stamped repeats of a pattern featuring a large open-winged butterfly. A hole for the floral pin is disguised within one of the upper portions of a butterfly’s wing. The pin would be inserted through the vase to pierce the stems of a bouquet in order to secure the flowers inside the holder. Below the butterfly is a network of flowers, leaves, and swirls. The entire surface is embellished with imitation-granulation and beading. The neck, which connects the vase to the handle, is formed by two acanthus leaves flanking the vase and splaying outwards. One of the leaves has a loop connected to two lengths of round-link chains. One of the chains attaches to the floral pin, and the second, shorter chain is linked to a simple ring. The ring would allow the bouquet holder to be worn from the finger or on a chatelaine at the waist to free the lady's hands while dancing. The handle is in a Gothic Revival trefoil shape that incorporates acanthus leaves on the inner and outer surfaces. A Bristish registry indicates that the firm of Robert and Josiah Walsham in Birmingham, England was the designer for the stamps used to create this bouquet holder.

label: Mark(s)

content: Registry diamond dates on both sides of lower vase ("R.d"), November (K) 27, 1869 (H), batch 2

content: Registry diamond dates on handle (both sides below the leaves), [Sept.] 22, [1871]

label: Origin

content: Birmingham, England, possibly

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

content: Copper, silver plating

label: Dimensions

content: 6 × 1 1/2 in. (15.2 × 3.8 cm)

label: Style

content: Gothic Revival

content: Birmingham

content: England

label: Title

content: <I>Bouquet holder, butterfly motif</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, BUTTERFLY MOTIF</I>

title: <I>Bouquet holder, butterfly motif</I>


content: ca. 1860-1940

label: Period

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

label: Description

content: The wreath was the most popular floral design of the nineteenth century and is still commonly used today at funerals, special occasions, and holidays. The wreath could be made in an endless array of styles and combinations from simple to ornate, either tightly arranged or in a loose spray. This allowed the florist to create designs that were either very formal or artistic. The wreath was the most profitable set design for the florist and depending on the size and materials, it ranged in price from $2 to $200, making it appealing to all socioeconomic statuses. Ribbons with inscriptions or lettering might appear on a wreath with phrases or the person's name. The wreath has a longstanding tradition of being used at funerals and was the earliest form of arranged flowers to be used in the funeral in the West. The classic wreath form, which has no end and no beginning, symbolized eternal life, love everlasting, and victory over death. This made it a meaningful choice for funeral tributes. The wreath was appropriate for all genders and ages and was the most frequently ordered sympathy design leading up to the twentieth century. The language of flowers was often applied to these forms, wheat might symbolize old age, oak leaves-strength, marguerites or small roses-an infant’s purity. The wreath was also closely linked to the holidays, and the tradition of hanging a Christmas wreath is followed by many Americans today. American Christmas traditions with plants and flowers are based on a collection of various immigrant traditions brought over from their native cultures. As a result of their plant lore holy, ivy, laurel, pine cones, straw, poinsettia, yule logs, and, most notably, the Christmas tree became tied to the American conception of the holiday. The wreath of holly was both the favorite and most traditional flower frame design, and it was tied with ribbon and berries for a decorative effect. Due to the timing of this holiday, few floral varieties were in bloom, making evergreens and immortelles other popular wreath materials.

label: Label Text

content: Set pieces were usually made up on wire frames in the desired shape, which acted as a foundation for the floral arrangement. Commercially produced, heavy-gaged wire frames, fabricated from either plain or copper-plated wire, became available for flower arrangements between 1860 and 1864. The retail florist business was enhanced considerably by the high demand for arrangements on flower frames in the nineteenth century, and wire frames quickly became the basis of the retail florist’s inventory. The frames could be obtained for little cost to the florist, and if he managed to retrieve the skeleton after the occasion, it could be reused. Wire frames came in both straight and curved outlines and either as a box (three-dimensional frame) or flat frame. Most designs came in several sizes and could be hung or placed on a stand or were free-standing. Standard forms in wire works catalogues ranged in size from 10 to 60 inches. Outside of the standard frame designs offered in wireworks and florist’s supplies catalogues, designs could be made for almost any occasion, with some large enough to make life-sized reproductions.

content: Over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth century floral fashions changed. Some set pieces faded in popularity by the early 1900s, but some remained favorites well into the 1940’s. Many of these same designs are still used today, but the wire frames have been replaced by shapes made from more modern materials to save the florists’ time in making up the arrangement, as well as providing water to the flowers allowing for greater longevity.

label: Topic

content: emblems (symbols)

content: Floral frames

content: frame components

content: wire

content: associations

content: ceremonies

content: decorations

content: Floral Accessories

content: Floral decorations

content: floral designers

content: Flower arrangement

content: funerals

content: funerary objects

content: Garden ornaments and furniture

content: holidays

content: secret societies

content: societies

content: symbols

content: weddings

content: wirework

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens, Horticultural Artifacts Collection.

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Floral frames

content: Wire

content: 12 × 12 × 1 in. (30.5 × 30.5 × 2.5 cm)

content: 12 × 12 × 1 in. (30.5 × 30.5 × 2.5 cm)

content: 10 × 10 × 1 in. (25.4 × 25.4 × 2.5 cm)

topic:
Funerary objects
Frame components
Floral designers
Floral decorations
Floral frames
Gardens
Wire
Associations
Floral Accessories
Secret societies
Weddings
Furnishings
Rites and ceremonies
Decorations
Holidays
Wirework
Funeral rites and ceremonies
Flower arrangement
Emblems

content: <I>Wire frames, wreath</I>

title_sort: <I>WIRE FRAMES, WREATH</I>

label: High-resolution TIFF

label: High-resolution JPEG

label: Screen Image

title: <I>Wire frames, wreath</I>


content: ca. 1879-1962

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Symbols of good luck, such as the horseshoe, four-leaved clover, horns of plenty, and wish-bones appeared at events such as store openings, graduations, and other celebrations. The floral horseshoe was also a popular novelty design for horse races, both for its equestrian reference and as an emblem of good fortune. Though far rarer, this floral frame design may appear as a center piece for dinner party.

content: emblems (symbols)

content: Floral frames

content: frame components

content: wire

content: associations

content: ceremonies

content: decorations

content: Floral Accessories

content: Floral decorations

content: floral designers

content: Flower arrangement

content: holidays

content: horseshoes (animal equipment)

content: symbols

content: weddings

content: wirework

label: See more items in

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

label: Credit Line

label: Data Source

content: Smithsonian Gardens

label: Accession number

label: Type

content: Floral frames

content: Wire

content: 54 × 28 × 1 1/2 in. (137.2 × 71.1 × 3.8 cm)

topic:
Frame components
Floral designers
Floral decorations
Floral frames
Wire
Associations
Floral Accessories
Weddings
Rites and ceremonies
Decorations
Holidays
Wirework
Flower arrangement
Horseshoes (animal equipment)
Emblems

content: <I>Wire frame, horseshoe on stand, large</I>

title_sort: <I>WIRE FRAME, HORSESHOE ON STAND, LARGE</I>

label: Thumbnail Image