unitCode: HAC

type: edanmdm

label: Date

label: Period

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

label: Description

content: Silver bouquet holder with curved handle. The funnel-shaped vase is comprised of a pierced design featuring flowers, leaves and scrolls. A looped clip attached to the top of the vase allowed the holder to be attached to garments. The handle is curved ending in circle and is of reptilian pattern.

label: Label Text

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.

label: Origin

content: Great Britain, 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

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

label: Dimensions

content: 4 1/2 × 1 3/4 in. (11.4 × 4.4 cm)

label: Style

content: Rococo Revival

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

type: Country

content: Great Britain

label: Title

content: <I>Bouquet holder, flowers and leaves motif, curlicue handle</I>

unit_code: HAC

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, FLOWERS AND LEAVES MOTIF, CURLICUE HANDLE</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. 1860-1940

label: Period

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

label: Description

content: The crescent flower frame was not a particularly symbolic arrangement in itself; however, it was frequently sent to the family as a floral tribute to the deceased. This frame is commonly combined with a star or pendulum. Whether carrying a deeper meaning or not, floral tributes were always symbolic of respect for the deceased and sympathy for the mourners.

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: 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: 20 × 16 × 1 1/2 in. (50.8 × 40.6 × 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
Holidays
Wirework
Funeral rites and ceremonies
Flower arrangement
Emblems

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

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

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


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: The long, narrow vase of the bouquet holder is formed in gilded metal. It is composed of four arrows with feather shafts. The points of each arrow are attached to the base as if they are piercing it. The base forms a ring that holds a spindle handle carved of mother of pearl, as well as connecting a pin on a chain to the piece. 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. The shaft of the handle narrows slightly with incised rings stacked along the bottom. A ring on a chain is attached to the handle so that the bouquet holder may be worn about the finger or attached to a chatelaine.

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: Great Britain, possibly

label: Topic

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: gilding

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

label: See more items in

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

label: Credit Line

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

content: Gilded metal, mother of pearl

content: 5 1/4 × 1 in. (13.3 × 2.5 cm)

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

content: Great Britain

content: <I>Bouquet holder, feather motif, mother of pearl handle</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, FEATHER MOTIF, MOTHER OF PEARL HANDLE</I>


content: ca. 1860-1940

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. Shapes alluded to lives cut short and the loss of cherished relationships. As a visual genre, unfilled furniture came to represent a deceased loved one in nineteenth-century mourning iconography. These designs were in form of objects that the deceased had interacted with and became a personification of the individual who had been lost. The Vacant Chair or Empty Chair appeared in a variety of mediums in mourning paraphernalia, from the cemetery to photography. The chair that was once occupied, now left vacant implied the absence or loss of a family member, particularly an authoritative figure. This made the Empty Chair particularly suited to men, especially those in positions of authority; however, any father as head of the household was worthy of such a tribute in the nineteenth century. The Vacant Chair design could also be more general in its connotations, indicating any missing member of the family or community. A variation on the Empty Chair design, the Armchair could also be used as a symbol of ease and a charming life. The Vacant Chair or Empty Chair was usually an elaborate and massive floral design. It was usually life-sized. Depending on the ambitiousness of the designs and the quality of flowers, these designs, as some of the more expensive flower frame tributes, ranged in price from $50-100 as of the early twentieth century.

content: emblems (symbols)

content: Floral frames

content: frame components

content: wire

content: armchairs

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. Donated in memory of Mary Palmieri Carbone.

label: Data Source

content: Smithsonian Gardens

label: Accession number

label: Type

content: Floral frames

label: Restrictions & Rights

content: Wire

content: 35 × 17 × 18 in. (88.9 × 43.2 × 45.7 cm)

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

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

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

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


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Bouquet holder with gilded brass and mirror vase and bone handle. The vase of the bouquet holder is designed with four eighteenth-century style panels, each of which contains a small oval mirror. Sometimes called flirting mirrors, allowed the lady to check her face or spy on what was happening behind her. The mirrors are surrounded by elaborate ‘S' and ‘C' scrolls in gilded brass. The top of the vase incorporates an open design of feather-like motifs and is punctuated with a feather atop each mirror that extends above the lip. A clip on one of the vase panels suggest that this bouquet holder may have been attached to the user's dress. The vase connects to the handle at an ornately decorated bulbous neck band made from two stampings. A flat "O"-shaped ladder chain ending connecting to a floral pin is connected to the base. The pin is meant to be inserted into the vase through a small hole and by piercing the stems of the bouquet would secure the flowers in the holder. The straight handle is made of carved bone. A series of small openings with glass insets are deeply cut into the shaft. The bottom-most opening contains a small likeness of Narragansett Pier behind a magnifier. At one time, the other spaces may have contained other drawings or photographs.

content: bone

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: Narragansett Pier

content: Victoriana

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

label: Exhibition

content: Floral Fashions: From Bouquets to Buttonholes

label: On View

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

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

label: Medium

content: Gilded brass, mirrors, glass, bone

label: Dimensions

content: 6 1/2 × 2 in. (16.5 × 5.1 cm)

label: Style

content: Rococo Revival

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

building: Quadrangle

label: Title

content: <I>Bouquet holder, mirrors with bone handle</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, MIRRORS WITH BONE HANDLE</I>


label: Date

label: Period

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Small amethyst glass bouquet holder with brass ewer having large handle applied to vial. Ewer has gold colored ivy leaves attached and twined around bowl and handle in a graceful manner. A pin on back would allow it to be worn.

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: France, 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, Horticultural Artifacts Collection. Gift of Frances Jones Poetker.

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

content: Brass, glass

content: 3 × 3/4 in. (7.6 × 1.9 cm)

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

content: France

content: <I>Bouquet holder, ewer motif, glass vial</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, EWER MOTIF, GLASS VIAL</I>

label: High-resolution TIFF

label: High-resolution JPEG

label: Screen Image

label: Thumbnail Image


content: ca. 1831-1832

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

label: Maker

content: Joseph Wilmore, Birmingham, England

label: Description

content: Silver bouquet holder in cornucopia shape. The holder has as closed base with open basket weave around the upper half. The lip has a decorative band with applied beadwork within rope borders and a scalloped rim. This bouquet holder was said to have belonged to the former United States president, William Howard Taft’s wife, Helen Herron Taft.

label: Label Text

label: Mark(s)

content: Country of Origin: Lion passant (England)

content: City/Region of Origin: anchor (Birmingham)

content: Date letter: H (1831-1832)

content: Makers Mark: JW (Joseph Wilmore)

content: Duty Mark: King William in profile

label: Origin

content: Birmingham, England

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

label: See more items in

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

label: Credit Line

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

content: Silver

content: 3 × 1 1/2 in. (7.6 × 3.8 cm)

content: Neoclassical

place: England Birmingham

type: City

content: Birmingham

content: England

content: <I>Bouquet holder, cornucopia, basket weave</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, CORNUCOPIA, BASKET WEAVE</I>


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Silver bouquet holder with mother of pearl handle. The funnel-shaped vase is comprised of four, pierced panels creating an ogee rim. Each panel has two round and two demilune cutouts and stamped decoration. Large hemispheres join the upper sides of the panels together, and this decoration is complimented by silver spheres hanging from the lower, circular cutout. Above the banded neck, which connects the vase to the handle, is a twisted ring of silver. 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.

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: silver

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: Silver, mother of pearl

label: Dimensions

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

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

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

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


label: Date

label: Period

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Gilded brass bouquet holder with mother of pearl handle. The vase is comprised of mesh sectioned by vertical panels of graduated circles of gilded threads topped by flowers and arches to form rim at top. Its cone shape was formed with four net sheets superimposed with five stamped spirals, which overlap the seams. The stamped mesh continues at bottom to form a looped tail that creates a cornucopia shape and ends with a pair of shells. On the interior of the vase are the remnants of four prongs. These would have secured the flowers in the bouquet holder, unlike most holders that use a floral pin to secure them. The handle is ornately-carved mother of pearl diagonally cut at the top where it connects to the vase. 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 ring with stars around the band is connected to the bouquet holder by a short length of round-link chain attached to a loop around the handle.

content: Great Britain, possibly

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: gold

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

content: Gilded brass, mother of pearl

content: 4 × 1 1/2 in. (10.2 × 3.8 cm)

label: Style

content: Renaissance Revival

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

content: Great Britain

label: Title

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

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

label: High-resolution TIFF

label: High-resolution JPEG


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

label: Description

content: Silver filigree bouquet holder with oak leaves and flowers. The vase is formed by layers of delicate oak leaves of various heights. The leaves are formed by a vertical and horizontal network of filigree overlaid with veins and surrounded by a thin wire edging. A hole near the top of one of the taller leaves is for a floral pin connected to the vase by a round-link chain. 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 three-part spindle handle of the bouquet holder is made by relatively thick wires atop a fine filigree network with a tube support underneath. Beadwork encircles different levels of the handle, which are elaborately ornamented with scrolling over an intricately textured surface. The upper register and bottom of the handle are encircled with applied flowers formed with a central bead surrounded by two circles of petals. The handle is capped with a ball finial to which a second chain for a finger ring is attached. This feature would allow the bouquet holder to be worn from the finger or on a chatelaine to free the lady's hands while dancing.

label: Label Text

content: China, 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: Garden ornaments and furniture

content: Victoriana

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

content: Silver

content: 4 1/2 × 2 in. (11.4 × 5.1 cm)

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

content: China

content: <I>Bouquet holder, filigree oak leaves and flowers</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, FILIGREE OAK LEAVES AND FLOWERS</I>

label: Screen Image

label: Thumbnail Image


content: ca. 1880

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Stars set designs were used for a wide variety of occasions. They were often part of emblems for organizations, such as the military, and incorporated into larger arrangements. Stars were also popular at Christmas time acting as the Star of Bethlehem from the story of the nativity. In mourning iconography, a star is symbolic of wisdom and the Divine Spirit. The use of the star flower frame could be to symbolize wisdom or as more of a decorative device. The Order of the Eastern Star (OES), the women’s auxiliary of the Freemasons, used the star as its emblem and frequently had this flower frame at ceremonies and funerals of its members. Their symbol was a five-pointed star which referred to five biblical heroines – Adah, Ruth, Esther, Martha, and Electra – who achieved virtue in the five roles of a woman’s life – daughter, sister, wife, mother, and widow. Each point also symbolized the central tenets of the organization: fidelity, constancy, loyalty, faith, and love. Eastern Star Organization flower frames had one point face downward in white then green, red, blue, and yellow points arranged clockwise. The letters FATAL were sometimes applied to the points which stood for “Fairest Among Ten-thousand Altogether Lovely” as well as implying that to betray the secrets of the Eastern Star would be fatal. 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 stars, 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: 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.

label: Topic

content: emblems (symbols)

content: Floral frames

content: frame components

content: stars

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: weddings

content: wirework

label: See more items in

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

label: Credit Line

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)

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

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

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

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


content: ca. 1860-1940

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 keystone flower frame given to Ancient Grand Master Freemasons. It usually featured the letters “H-T-W-S-S-T-K-S” arranged in circle, which was an acronym for “Hiram the Widow’s Son Sent to King Solomon. This assemblage is known as the Masonic Mark of an Ancient Grand Master. Additional designs for the Masonic ceremonies and funerals included the Masonic emblem, Maltese cross, 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

label: Data Source

content: Smithsonian Gardens

label: Accession number

label: Type

content: Floral frames

content: Wire

content: 28 × 20 × 1 1/2 in. (71.1 × 50.8 × 3.8 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 frames, keystone</I>

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

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


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Silver plated bouquet holder with ring handle. The funnel-shaped vase is comprised of a pierced design featuring leaves, vines and flowers. A looped clip attached to the middle of the vase allowed the holder to be attached to garments. The handle is wrapped with leaves and ends in ring. A short length of chain connected to a ring and pin is attached to 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. The pin would be inserted through the vase to pierce the stems of a bouquet in order to secure the flowers inside the holder.

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: 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

label: Restrictions & Rights

label: Medium

content: Silver

label: Dimensions

content: 5 1/2 × 1 3/4 in. (14 × 4.4 cm)

content: Naturalism

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

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

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


label: Date

label: Period

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: A small gilt vase bouquet holder. The vase is composed of a repeating pattern of leaves separated into two registers by a border of quatrefoils. It is contained by a band around the lip of the vase. Three delicate flower blossoms carved in red ivory are applied to the vase. It connects to the handle with a small wreath of leaves and a ring engraved with a scrolling design. A pin on a thick chain connects to the band. This would be inserted to pierce the flower stems in the vase in order to keep them in place. The handle is turned ivory tinted red. A similar thin band clasps a ring on a chain to the base of the shaft, so that the bouquet holder may be worn about the finger or attached to a chatelaine at the waist.

label: Origin

content: France, possibly

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: gilding

content: ivory

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

content: Posy holders

content: quatrefoils

content: tussie-mussies

content: costume accessories

content: decorative arts

content: fashion

content: Victoriana

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

label: Exhibition

content: Floral Fashions: From Bouquets to Buttonholes

label: On View

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

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

content: Gilded metal, ivory

content: 4 1/2 × 1 in. (11.4 × 2.5 cm)

label: Style

content: Gothic Revival

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

content: France

content: <I>Bouquet holder, carved flowers, red shaft</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, CARVED FLOWERS, RED SHAFT</I>


content: ca. 1830-1920

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

label: Description

content: Gilt metal bouquet holder with cone shape. The curvaceous holder was cast with scroll and floral decorations with a smooth shield shape at the top on both sides.

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: Mark(s)

content: Country of Origin: Lion?

content: Maker's mark: B&Co 14, K.P 16

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

content: 4 3/4 × 1 in. (12.1 × 2.5 cm)

content: Rococo Revival

label: Title

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

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

label: High-resolution TIFF

label: High-resolution JPEG

label: Screen Image

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


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Gilded metal bouquet holder with bone handle. The vase is comprised of two stamped shield shapes with foliate capitals and flanking wire scrolls. A short length of chain connects a floral pin to the side 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 neck, which connects the vase to the handle, is a sphere over a smooth band. The spindle handle is made from turned bone.

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

label: Data Source

content: Smithsonian Gardens

label: Accession number

label: Type

content: Bouquet holders

content: Gilded metal, bone

content: 6 × 2 in. (15.2 × 5.1 cm)

content: Renaissance Revival

content: <I>Bouquet holder, crest, bone handle</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, CREST, BONE HANDLE</I>

label: Thumbnail Image


label: Date

content: ca. 1860-1940

label: Period

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Crown floral arrangements came in variety of shapes, both flat or “in the round” frames. Some crowns were incorporated into larger arrangements, often combined with other frames such as the book or the cross. Crown flower frames were used in the funerals of ladies and gentlemen and was especially popular with the Jehovah’s Witnesses. In mourning symbolism of the nineteenth century, crowns were symbolic of victory over death. Instead of the earthly crown of royalty, this symbol referred to the heavenly crown, which represented the attainment of celestial honors. Victory over death is rooted in the tenants of the Christian faith, and in the nineteenth century this concept was magnified. Death and eternity in heaven were seen as the victory of faithfulness. Symbols of victory reminded the Christian that whatever pain and suffering one may endure, they would come out on the other side into glory and heaven. In addition to symbolic shapes, references to victory were made through the “Language of Flowers” by using palm, laurel, or nasturtium. As they alluded to the reward at life’s end, set pieces in the form of victory symbols were especially suited to funerals, but they might also be used at other religious events and occasions.

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: symbols

content: wirework

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Floral frames

label: Restrictions & Rights

label: Medium

content: Wire

label: Dimensions

content: 4 3/4 × 9 1/4 × 2 1/2 in. (12.1 × 23.5 × 6.4 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 frame, crown</I>

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

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


content: ca. 1879-1962

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

label: Description

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.

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.

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: 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: 31 1/2 × 22 × 1 1/2 in. (80 × 55.9 × 3.8 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
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: Vase of gilded silver engraved and enameled with ivory handle. The cone-shaped vase of the bouquet is petit with three wisps extending upward creating a feather shape. The silver bowl is ornamented with engraved foliate motifs and white, black, and dark blue enameling. The top of the bowl is studded with four red paste-glass and eight turquois bezel-set paste-glass gems surrounded by embossed silver arabesques. Three plumes of graduating lengths extend from the lip of the vase and flourish across the front in a side-swept curve. Each has scrolling botanical surface decoration that is inlaid with five turquoise and eight red paste-glass bezel-set gems alternating in color. The straight handle is made of carved ivory with a leaf-like motif that spirals up its length.

content: bouquet holders

content: bouquetiers

content: enamel

content: gilding

content: hatpins

content: ivory

content: paste (glass)

content: porte-bouquets

content: porte-fleurs

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: Gilded silver, ivory, enamel, glass

content: 7 1/2 × 2 in. (19.1 × 5.1 cm)

label: Style

content: Renaissance Revival

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

label: Title

content: <I>Bouquet holder, jeweled feather</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, JEWELED FEATHER</I>

label: High-resolution TIFF

title: <I>Bouquet holder, jeweled feather</I>


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

label: Maker

content: Monet, jewelers

content: Small brass bouquet holder pin. The vase is urn shaped with curvilinear decoration around neck. The back is flat with pin for attachment a garment.

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.

label: Mark(s)

content: MONET

label: Origin

content: New York, New York, United States

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: Brass

content: 1 3/4 × 1 1/4 in. (4.4 × 3.2 cm)

place:
New York
United States

content: New York

type: State

content: New York

content: United States

content: <I>Bouquet holder, vase shape, pin</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, VASE SHAPE, PIN</I>

label: High-resolution JPEG

label: Screen Image

title: <I>Bouquet holder, vase shape, pin</I>


content: ca. 1860-1940

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

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.”

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

label: See more items in

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

label: Credit Line

content: Smithsonian Gardens, Horticultural Artifacts Collection. Donated in memory of Harald Sletwold.

label: Data Source

content: Smithsonian Gardens

label: Accession number

label: Type

content: Floral frames

content: Wire

content: 19 1/2 × 16 × 5 1/2 in. (49.5 × 40.6 × 14 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, small</I>

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

label: Thumbnail Image

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


label: Date

content: ca. 1860-1940

label: Period

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

label: Description

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.

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Floral frames

label: Restrictions & Rights

label: Medium

content: Wire

label: Dimensions

content: 17 1/2 × 12 1/2 × 1 in. (44.5 × 31.8 × 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
Flower arrangement
Emblems
Anchors (watercraft equipment)
Military

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

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


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Gilded metal bouquet holder with ring handle. The funnel-shaped vase has a pierced design featuring leaves and scrolls. A short length of chain connects a floral pin to the side 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 scroll handle curls up creating a ring at the bottom.

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.

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: Gilded metal

content: 5 3/4 × 1 3/4 in. (14.6 × 4.4 cm)

label: Style

content: Rococo Revival

content: Birmingham

content: England

label: Title

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

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

label: High-resolution TIFF

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


content: ca. 1879-1962

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Wirework basket with scalloped edge. The base is a flat, oval with straight sides with arches forming the rim. This design was used to create low arrangements suitable for table decorations because it would not block the view or hinder conversations with individuals across the table. Commercially produced, heavy-gaged wire frames, fabricated from either plain or copper-plated wire, became available for flower arrangements between 1860 and 1864. 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. Standard forms in wire works catalogues ranged in size from 10 to 60 inches.

content: Baskets for floral arrangements were made from a variety of materials and in multiple sizes and shapes. Baskets were extremely popular for floral designs as gifts, parlor decorations, sympathy tributes, and weddings. Baskets for displaying flowers and plants could be large or small, rounded or squared, and meant to be carried or to sit on the table or floor. In the 1800s, popular magazines and etiquette manuals suggested the use of baskets of flowers for decorating parlor tables and mantles that were in keeping with the aesthetic of their surroundings. For parlor decorations, high stands with or without branches, small pendant baskets, or hanging baskets of flowers, or of plants, were frequently used.

content: There were three categories of basket arrangements: plant baskets, flower baskets, and a combination of both. Baskets usually had full arrangements, giving the appearance that it was bursting with leaves and blossoms of one type or multiple varieties. Basket also suited the desire for loose graceful arrangements, which were fashionable in the late 1800s and into the 1900s. Because the basket designs allowed them to contain water in the base, plants and flowers inside stayed fresh longer. The variety and longevity of arrangements in baskets made them highly-favored by the customers.

label: Topic

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: holidays

content: secret societies

content: societies

content: symbols

content: weddings

content: wirework

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Baskets

content: Floral frames

content: Wire

content: 10 1/2 × 7 × 2 1/2 in. (26.7 × 17.8 × 6.4 cm)

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

content: <I>Wire frame, flat basket</I>

title_sort: <I>WIRE FRAME, FLAT BASKET</I>

label: High-resolution JPEG

label: Screen Image

title: <I>Wire frame, flat basket</I>


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Tin-plated bouquet holder with spade handle. The pierced vase is comprised of a rope and bellflower design with scrollwork. The neck, which connects the vase to the handle, is formed from acanthus leaves that splay outward on either side. A short length of chain connected to a finger ring attaches to this point. 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.

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

label: See more items in

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

label: Credit Line

label: Data Source

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

content: Tin-plated copper

content: 5 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (14.6 × 3.8 cm)

content: Gothic Revival

content: Birmingham

content: England

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

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


label: Date

content: ca. 1860-1940

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

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.

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: holidays

content: secret societies

content: societies

content: symbols

content: weddings

content: wirework

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens

label: Accession number

label: Type

content: Floral frames

content: Wire

content: 42 1/2 × 42 1/2 × 1 1/2 in. (108 × 108 × 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
Holidays
Wirework
Funeral rites and ceremonies
Flower arrangement
Emblems

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

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

label: Thumbnail Image

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


label: Period

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

label: Description

content: Silver bouquet holder with tripod legs. The cone-shaped vase extends the length of the bouquet holder and acts as one of its supports. The opening is fluted and decorated with embossed designs. The surface is engraved with decorative motifs within panels extending the length of the holder. Three spring mechanized legs extend from the middle of the vase, this would allow the bouquet holder to act as a free-standing table ornament or mantel piece. When closed the bouquet holder could be carried in hand.

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, Horticultural Artifacts Collection. Gift of Frances Jones Poetker.

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Bouquet holders

label: Restrictions & Rights

label: Medium

content: Silver

content: 5 × 1 1/4 in. (12.7 × 3.2 cm)

content: Aesthetic Movement

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

content: Great Britain

content: <I>Bouquet holder, cone, tripod</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, CONE, TRIPOD</I>

title: <I>Bouquet holder, cone, tripod</I>


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

label: Designer

content: Henry Jenkins and Sons

content: Silver-plated copper holder with fox, grapes, and basket motif with a looped handle. The large funnel-shaped vase of the holder is created of three stamped repeats of the pattern, which features a fox perched on volute forms. The howling fox appears in front of vase in a basket-weave pattern with grapes on the vine encircling the lip of the vase. The base of the vase is stamped with wild foliate motifs atop a looped handle and a chain attached to a floral pin. This would be inserted through a hole in the vase, piercing the stems of a bouquet, and securing them inside. The handle begins with a closed blossom and leaves, the stem of which loops up and curls around the base creating a ring. This feature 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. This vase design matches the English metalwork registration No. 258692, Dec. 14, 1871, Henry Jenkins & Sons, "Ornamental Design to be repeated and continued for Baskets & etc."

label: Label Text

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 × 2 in. (15.2 × 5.1 cm)

label: Style

content: Naturalism

content: Birmingham

content: England

label: Title

content: <I>Bouquet holder, fox motif, basket weave</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, FOX MOTIF, BASKET WEAVE</I>


content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Silver bouquet holder with straight handle. The funnel-shaped vase is comprised of a very delicate openwork design of arabesques, C-scrolls, and leaves with some flowers and beading. A short length of chain connects a floral pin 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 straight, baluster handle is capped with ball finial.

label: Origin

content: Birmingham, England, possibly

label: Topic

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: 5 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (14.6 × 3.8 cm)

content: Renaissance Revival

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

content: Birmingham

content: England

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

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

label: High-resolution TIFF

label: High-resolution JPEG

label: Screen Image

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


label: Date

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: Gilded metal bouquet holder with mother of pearl handle. The vase is comprised of openwork loops, hemispheres, and architectural ornaments in a mixture of Baroque and Gothic motifs, which is representative of the interest in historicism found in nineteenth century design. A short length of chain connected to a ring is attached to the side 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 elaborate, spindle handle is made from turned mother of pearl with a gold band near the tip. 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.

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

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: Gilded metal, mother of pearl

content: 6 × 1 3/4 in. (15.2 × 4.4 cm)

content: Renaissance Revival

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

content: <I>Bouquet holder, loops and balls, mother of pearl handle</I>

title_sort: <I>BOUQUET HOLDER, LOOPS AND BALLS, MOTHER OF PEARL HANDLE</I>


label: Period

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

label: Description

content: Copper bouquet holder with looped handle. The openwork vase features a design of large rose blossoms that are fully opened along with leaves with stippled texture on the surface. 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. A floral pin connected to a short length of chain is attached to the looped portion of the handle. The pin would be inserted through the vase to pierce the stems of a bouquet in order to secure the flowers inside the holder.

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

label: Type

content: Bouquet holders

label: Restrictions & Rights

content: Copper

content: 5 3/4 × 1 3/4 in. (14.6 × 4.4 cm)

content: Naturalism

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, rose and leaf motif</I>

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

label: Thumbnail Image


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.

label: Label Text

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

content: Floral frames

label: Medium

content: Wire

label: Dimensions

content: 25 × 17 1/2 × 16 1/2 in. (63.5 × 44.5 × 41.9 cm)

content: <I>Wire frame, pillow on folding stand</I>

title_sort: <I>WIRE FRAME, PILLOW ON FOLDING STAND</I>


content: ca. 1860-1940

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: The floral spray became the most popular sympathy tribute in the early twentieth century. These hand-tied bunches of flowers were generally made with a dozen of the same type of flower and finished with a bow. Many florists preferred floral sprays to wire frame designs because they could be made easily, saving time and labor which resulted in greater profit. These designs were sent to the homes of the bereaved or the funeral home. Larger sprays could be placed on the casket and was a less expensive option than floral pall. Sprays could also be used as church decorations for funerals, holidays, weddings, and other special occasions. A pew marker was a popular form of decoration used in churches the home for occasions such as weddings, funerals, holidays, or important days on the religious calendar. Markers were placed at the end of a row of seating or the church pew, which is a long bench seat for members of the congregation to sit during church services. Pew seating might also be used in church choirs, synagogues, and even some courtrooms. From the mid-nineteenth century, pew markers were usually used to highlight the main center aisle; however, they may be placed at either end of a row to indicate reserved seating. The markers were small hanging receptacles, which held clusters of flowers and foliage, often trailing over the edges, and they were often adorned with ribbons or cords in colors that complimented the occasion. Pew markers were usually lined and held a receptacle for a water source to help keep flowers fresh. These floral designs were popular for church and home weddings in the nineteenth century. In the 1960s and 70s, pew markers such as this were replaced by plastic pew clips and floral foams, which made the decoration of churches and other venues easier to arrange, install, and remove.

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.

label: Topic

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: holidays

content: weddings

content: wirework

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Floral frames

content: Church decorations

content: Wire

content: 16 1/2 × 2 1/2 × 1 in. (41.9 × 6.4 × 2.5 cm)

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

label: Title

content: <I>Wire frame, spray holders</I>

title_sort: <I>WIRE FRAME, SPRAY HOLDERS</I>

title: <I>Wire frame, spray holders</I>


content: ca. 1860-1940

content: Victorian (1837-1901)

content: The casket cover appeared in many forms, such as a blanket, a pall, a double spray, a scarf, a cross, or a garland. The floral casket cover arrangements were meant to be one of the most impressive designs in the funeral setting. Designs often called for more than one hundred individual flowers; and thus, were expensive. Casket covers made entirely of greenery such as smilax and fern, were less expensive for individuals who still wanted the effect for less money. The wire foundation was shaped to the size and shape of the casket lid and flowers were applied, or florists could use wire mesh or netting for a foundation for the design.

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: 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: wirework

content: Horticultural Artifacts Collection

content: Smithsonian Gardens

content: Floral frames

content: Wire

content: 30 × 17 × 4 in. (76.2 × 43.2 × 10.2 cm)

content: 24 × 16 × 4 in. (61 × 40.6 × 10.2 cm)

topic:
Rites and ceremonies
Decorations
Wirework
Frame components
Floral designers
Flower arrangement
Floral decorations
Floral frames
Wire
Associations
Floral Accessories

content: <I>Wire frame, casket cover piece</I>

title_sort: <I>WIRE FRAME, CASKET COVER PIECE</I>

label: High-resolution TIFF

label: High-resolution JPEG

title: <I>Wire frame, casket cover piece</I>