Discussion Post: The Empty House
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sherlock60This week, the canon story we’re looking at is The Empty House and the chosen topic is Flowers.
A few facts:
🌼🌸 During th[e Victorian] period, floral designs became more lavish, to the point of overflowing. Containers used were often flared vases or urns of alabaster, porcelain, silver, or pewter… During this time, an attempt to establish the first simplistic rules for arranging flowers was made. [the flower expert]
🌼🌸 The interest of the 19th-century Romantics in nature made floral arrangements an important part of a decorative scheme. With the advent of the clipper ship more exotic plant materials were introduced into Europe and the United States. From China came new varieties of chrysanthemums, bleeding heart, rhododendrons, and azaleas; from South Africa, the gladiolus, freesia, and pelargoniums; and from Mexico, the dahlia, gloxinia, and fuchsia. Many old garden favourites were greatly improved as a result of widespread scientific interest in horticulture and botany. The Industrial Revolution made it possible to manufacture a great variety of economically priced ceramic and glass containers. Artificial flowers were extremely popular and were made in many different materials in both home and factory. [Encyclopaedia Britannica]
🌼🌸 Early Victorian designs favored dark, rich colors with golds. After [the revival of] the French Rococo movement, they transcended to lighter colors with silvers, and there was more of an emphasis on texture. [Mandy Maxwell]
🌼🌸 ...a list of lots of plant materials used in that era:
Flowers:
Double Anemone, Carnations, Crown imperial, Cyclamen, Foxglove, Hellebore, Day lily, Hollyhock, Hyacinth, Iris, Larkspur, Lilac, Lily, Lupine, Narcissus, Nasturtium, Double Peony / Peony, Pinks, Poppy, Rose, Tulips, Amaryllis, Aster, Balloon Flower, Jasmine, Lily-of-the-Valley, Marigold, Pansy, Primrose, Catkin, Clover, Daphne, Geraniums, Hibiscus, Phlox, Plum and Pomegranate blossoms, Snowdrop, Sorrel, Trumpet vine, Veronica
Foliage:
Hosta, Canna, Coleus, Ferns [Mandy Maxwell]
🌼🌸 Roses are almost always required for a Victorian flower arrangement as they were very popular during the era. Other appropriate flowers are tulips, carnations, daisies, China asters, lilies, cockscomb, peonies, bleeding hearts, freesias, dahlias and baby’s breath.
Victorian style arrangements are typically round or oval in form. Flowers are typically kept to a lower height, only one to one-and-a-half times the container’s height. Strong color contrasts and flowers with brilliant hues are preferred. Usually a full range of colors is used… Lots of foliage is associated with Victorian style flower arrangements. They are used to soften the appearance of tightly massed flowers. Ferns and ivies are popular inclusions.
Containers used in Victorian style flower arrangements are typically ornate and decorative. They should be showy but not outshine the flowers. A wide variety of containers can be used, ranging from China vases to baskets, urns, round bowls and other containers. Materials also vary. Two and three-tiered epergnes and stands are appropriate… [Brynn Jackson]
🌼🌸 Rose breeding really began in the early nineteenth century, and soon there were hundreds of gorgeous new hybrids… Regency and Victorian rose beds could be of almost any shape, though a group of wedge-shaped beds making a circle was always popular. [David Stuart]
🌼🌸 Except for the single flower in the small bud vase, the most popular style of Victorian arrangement was a tightly compact mass of flowers, greens, grasses, and ferns. The two-level epergne, with a flared top for flowers and lower tier for fruit, frequently was used for the centre of the dining table. Since the flowers selected were usually of a brilliant hue, strong colour contrast was a characteristic of Victorian arrangements. These gay floral groupings, however, were usually softened by ferns and other kinds of foliage. [Encyclopaedia Britannica]
🌼🌸 The Webster Dictionary defines ‘Epergne’ as: A ornamental stand, usually made of glass or silver, holding vase shaped dishes, trumpets or trays, used as a decorative centerpiece for serving sweetmeats, fruit, cakes, candy or flowers… While some English Silver Epergnes, date back as early as the late 1700's, for the most part, Epergnes became popular during the Victorian Area, 1800-1900. They seemed to be in their prime around the middle of the 1800's.The first examples were mostly silver. Later, glass bowls and trumpets were added to the silver ones. Soon, entire epergnes were being made of glass. They soon became a favorite decoration for the dining room table. [Richard Cottrell]
🌼🌸 Many of the vases used for early nineteenth century flower arrangements were similar to their predecessors. Glass and ceramic bowls, beakers, urns and vases of baluster, semi-circular, ovoid or decanter shape were favoured and bowls supported by a central leg or trio of figures were exceedingly popular. English porcelain factories churned out huge quantities of vases for flower arrangement by the thousands, including flowerpots with holes in the bottom and bases to stand on to catch any drips...
Vases and pots were produced in pairs and sets of three… and these garnitures, as they became known, (from the French word garnir meaning to garnish) looked very effective when they were placed centrally or either side of a mantelpiece…
Tables were placed in the centre of rooms, especially round tables with a bowl filled with wondrous flower displays. Tables or commodes between windows were another favoured place for flower display and the increase in cut flower arrangements was echoed, and indeed overtaken, by the increase in growing plants indoors on stands. These were placed under windows or in recessed window embrasures. [Carolyn McDowall]
🌼🌸 In Victorian times where the body of the deceased was laid out at home for many days a large array of floral tributes was a necessity. The Victorians were responsible for some of the customs we associate with funerals and floral tributes today. Many of the shapes of floral tributes originate largely from this period where the size, shape, colour and sometimes grandeur of the flowers was an important part of paying your respects. [Nicci Ball]
🌼🌸 Tussie-Mussies: “Talking Bouquets” – Tussie-mussies are also called nose[gay] bouquets. Traditionally composed of fragrant herbs held tightly together in a circular design with a single flower in the center, they became a popular floral gift during Victorian times. The custom of sending subtle communications with flowers began to influence what flowers were chosen based on the intended message. ...tussie-mussies [were] given as gifts and to acknowledge special occasions. The way a bouquet was held often indicated acceptance, acknowledgement, or approval. Though today’s bridal bouquets are generally larger than a nosegay, they are a modern example of a tussie-mussie. [janegerow]
🌼🌸 Reporting on the marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on 10 February 1840, The Times newspaper wrote that 'Her Majesty wore no diamonds on her head, nothing but a simple wreath of orange blossom'. The Queen's simple floral adornment, an emblem of chastity, spawned a fashion for orange blossom jewellery. [Royal Collection Trust]
🌼🌸 Queen Victoria… married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. As for her bouquet, Queen Victoria carried a small posy made up solely of snowdrops (Prince Albert’s favorite flower). In reference to bridal bouquets, there is a royal wedding tradition of brides including a sprig of myrtle in their bouquets… Sprigs have been included in the bouquets of all royal brides since the 1850s...
But it was Queen Victoria who created the vogue for the sweet smelling [orange] blossoms when she wore them in a grand wreath for her 1840 wedding, and the classic floral theme for the Victorian bride was set. The very influential etiquette journals of the 19th century dictated that every bride include the blossoms in her wedding. This was so opulently obeyed, that by the 1870s, one of the powerful arbiters of good taste in England, John Cordy Jefferson, was begging for a change from the all-white headdresses, stating ” ‘not one lovely girl in a thousand could wear without disadvantage the solely yellow-white orange-flowers’ “, according to Ann Monsarrat… When real orange blossoms were in short supply or in northern climates where citrus fruits did not flourish, wax replicas were used instead. [Lamber de Bie]
🌼🌸 This was the age, also, of the artificial flower. Feathers, wax, shells, paper, silk- all were materials from which floral decorations for the home were made. Some of these were beautiful, and many of them have survived to become museum pieces. Fabrics were embroidered with flowers, and floral forms dominated the needlework of the period. Everyone, including children, collected flowers and plants and pressed them.
Flowers covered every form of the decorative arts in the Victorian era. Furniture was carved with garlands of ornate flowers. Glass vases were often painted with flowers, and china-painting became a hobby that consumed the time and talent of Victorian ladies...
Flowers made from the hair of deceased relatives were arranged in frames, often surrounding a photograph of the departed. [Archived on OoCities.org Author’s name not given.]
🌼🌸 One of the very few predominantly female occupations to appear consistently in urban and suburban census enumerators’ books throughout the period 1851-1901 is that of artificial flower maker, or artificial florist. It is rare to find an urban enumerator’s book from the period which does not include at least one woman recording herself as an artificial flower maker, in most cases numerous women appear as such, despite the fact that making artificial flowers was generally a poorly paid and seasonal occupation. Artificial flowers were to be seen everywhere in Victorian Britain; it was not unusual for Hansom cabs to have a bunch in their windows, and women’s clothing was regularly decorated with them… artificial flower making was a big business, and thousands of women were employed both in factories, and in their homes, making the little blooms for a few shillings a day. [Amanda Wilkinson]
🌼🌸 As Benjamin Disraeli’s coffin was lowered into the ground on 26 April, 1881, the attention of the crowded mourners and reporters fixed on a simple primrose wreath amidst the mass of floral tributes left in the churchyard at Hughenden, Buckinghamshire. It had been sent by Queen Victoria, with a simple message attached: ‘His favourite flowers’. [Tom Crewe]
🌼🌸 ...the cult that… rapidly [grew] up around Disraeli’s memory… found its expression in two innovations: the Primrose League and ‘Primrose Day’. The former, founded in 1883, claimed to represent the ‘transformation into political energy’ of the emotions aroused by Disraeli’s career and death. By 1891 it had over one million members, and became the largest popular political organisation of the nineteenth century. There is considerable irony in this development, for Disraeli had always sneered at populism and, according to his intimate Lord Derby, had an ‘odd dislike’ for the middle classes – precisely those who were so prominent in organising the League’s tea-parties, bazaars, and entertainments. Nor would he have been particularly enamoured of ‘Primrose Day’, which fell on the anniversary of his death, and for decades was marked by an orgy of primrose tributes around the country: dramatic arrangements were laid at the base of his public memorials, and primroses were worn as buttonholes and in hats, as garlands, necklaces and even girdles. Gladstone’s private secretary derided this ‘sentimental hobby’ as ‘inappropriate and un-English’, and Disraeli would have agreed. [Tom Crewe]
🌼🌸 The language of flowers, sometimes called floriography, is a means of cryptological communication through the use or arrangement of flowers… Interest in floriography soared in Victorian England and in the United States during the 19th century. Gifts of blooms, plants, and specific floral arrangements were used to send a coded message to the recipient, allowing the sender to express feelings which could not be spoken aloud in Victorian society. Armed with floral dictionaries, Victorians often exchanged small "talking bouquets," called nosegays or tussie-mussies, which could be worn or carried as a fashion accessory. [Wikipedia]
🌼🌸 One of the most familiar of the language of flower books is Routledge's edition illustrated by Kate Greenaway, The Language of Flowers. First published in 1884, it continues to be reprinted to this day. [Wikipedia]
🌼🌸 [Floriography] spread way beyond actual flower bouquets, and into literature and fine art. Jane Austen and Emily Dickinson—both gardeners as well as authors—used the language of flowers in not only their writing, but their personal letters… Charlotte Bronte… expected you to understand that when Jane [Eyre] looks at snowdrops, crocuses, purple auriculas, and golden-eyed pansies in chapter nine, she’s feeling hopeful, cheerful, modest, and preoccupied with the connection between money and happiness.
Similarly, the Pre-Raphaelites relished the ability to add floral symbolism to paintings that already drew on mythic themes; Rossetti’s “Lady Lilith” might look sensual, but the white roses behind her belie a disinterest in carnality, while the poppies and foxgloves beside her suggest she’s sleepy, forgetful, and insincere. [Romie Stott]
🌼🌸 Botany was among the most popular of the nineteenth century sciences. Men, women and children all joined in the frantic hunt for plants, and the hedgerows were full of people cataloguing mosses, identifying ferns and pressing flowers. [Dr Jim Endersby]
Some useful resources:
History Of Floral Design On the flower expert.
Floral decoration Historical and Stylistic Developments. On the Encyclopaedia Britannica website.
5 Components of Victorian Floral Design By Brynn Jackson, on Flower Shop.
Victorian Garden Plants 1: Flowers By David Stuart, on David Stuart Gardens.
Victorian Epergne - Pronounced - E-purn. By Richard Cottrell. On the My Old Historic House blog.
Fashionable Flower Arrangements - An English Art Perfected By Carolyn McDowall, on The Culture Concept Circle.
Features of Victorian Era Flower Arrangements By Vaijayanti Joshi, on the Victorian Era website.
The Comprehensive History of Flower Arranging By Kali Simone, on Flowers Across Melbourne.
History of funeral flowers By Nicci Ball, on My Last Song.
Funeral Flowers Cabinet Card Photographs By Stephen Mills, on A Land of Deepest Shade.
Tussie Mussies By janegerow, on The Secret Language of Flowers.
How Queen Victoria and Prince Albert expressed their love through flowers is explored in a new exhibition On the Royal Collection Trust website.
Royal Wedding Flowers By Lamber de Bie, on Lamberdebie’s blog.
Myrtle Blossom in Marriage Bouquets... By Essie Fox, on The Virtual Victorian.
Flower arrangements for the Victorian Period On OoCities.org
A is for Artificial Flower Makers By Amanda Wilkinson, on An A-Z of Women's Occupations in Victorian Britain.
John Groom’s Crippleage and Flower Girls’ Mission, Clerkenwell, London On Children’s Homes.
Professions and Trades - Factory Manufacture / Making of - Artificial Flowers By James Greenwood, The Seven Curses of London, 1869. On The Dictionary of Victorian London.
The lost art of flower-making This [text] interview takes you into the vanished world of Victorian flower-makers with Beatrice Behlen, senior curator of fashion and decorative arts, and Natasha Fenner, curatorial assistant. On the Museum of London website.
Services Industry / General - Flower Girls, Sellers of Plants, Seeds etc London Labour and the London Poor; 1851, 1861-2; Henry Mayhew On The Dictionary of Victorian London.
Disraeli's flowery history By Tom Crewe, on gov.uk
Language of flowers On Wikipedia.
How Flower-Obsessed Victorians Encoded Messages in Bouquets By By Romie Stott, on Atlas Obscura.
Kate Greenaway's Language of flowers Reprint of the 1884 ed. published by G. Routledge, London Contains alphabetical lists of flowers and the meanings associated with them, and poetry section The book can be read online, or there are many download options.
The Language of Flowers On All Things Victorian.
The Secret Victorian Language of Flowers By Allison Meier, on Hyperallergic. A look at the meaning of flowers in Pre-Raphaelite paintings.
The lost plants of the Victorian golden age By Noel Kingsbury, on the Telegraph website.
Victorian Botany: An Introduction By Dr Jim Endersby, Adrian Research Fellow, Darwin College, Cambridge, on the Victorian Web.
Plant terrarium trend : History and significance By Andrea, on emarketingblog.
Floriography: The Language of Flowers in the Victorian Era On Proflowers. A collection of links to other websites.
Please feel free to discuss this topic in the comments.
Please also feel free to comment about the canon story itself or any related aspects outside this week’s theme. For example, any reactions, thoughts, theories, fic recs, favourite adaptations of the canon story… Or any other contribution you wish to make. And if you have any suggestions for fic prompts springing from this week's story, please feel free to share those in the comments as well.
A few facts:
🌼🌸 During th[e Victorian] period, floral designs became more lavish, to the point of overflowing. Containers used were often flared vases or urns of alabaster, porcelain, silver, or pewter… During this time, an attempt to establish the first simplistic rules for arranging flowers was made. [the flower expert]
🌼🌸 The interest of the 19th-century Romantics in nature made floral arrangements an important part of a decorative scheme. With the advent of the clipper ship more exotic plant materials were introduced into Europe and the United States. From China came new varieties of chrysanthemums, bleeding heart, rhododendrons, and azaleas; from South Africa, the gladiolus, freesia, and pelargoniums; and from Mexico, the dahlia, gloxinia, and fuchsia. Many old garden favourites were greatly improved as a result of widespread scientific interest in horticulture and botany. The Industrial Revolution made it possible to manufacture a great variety of economically priced ceramic and glass containers. Artificial flowers were extremely popular and were made in many different materials in both home and factory. [Encyclopaedia Britannica]
🌼🌸 Early Victorian designs favored dark, rich colors with golds. After [the revival of] the French Rococo movement, they transcended to lighter colors with silvers, and there was more of an emphasis on texture. [Mandy Maxwell]
🌼🌸 ...a list of lots of plant materials used in that era:
Flowers:
Double Anemone, Carnations, Crown imperial, Cyclamen, Foxglove, Hellebore, Day lily, Hollyhock, Hyacinth, Iris, Larkspur, Lilac, Lily, Lupine, Narcissus, Nasturtium, Double Peony / Peony, Pinks, Poppy, Rose, Tulips, Amaryllis, Aster, Balloon Flower, Jasmine, Lily-of-the-Valley, Marigold, Pansy, Primrose, Catkin, Clover, Daphne, Geraniums, Hibiscus, Phlox, Plum and Pomegranate blossoms, Snowdrop, Sorrel, Trumpet vine, Veronica
Foliage:
Hosta, Canna, Coleus, Ferns [Mandy Maxwell]
🌼🌸 Roses are almost always required for a Victorian flower arrangement as they were very popular during the era. Other appropriate flowers are tulips, carnations, daisies, China asters, lilies, cockscomb, peonies, bleeding hearts, freesias, dahlias and baby’s breath.
Victorian style arrangements are typically round or oval in form. Flowers are typically kept to a lower height, only one to one-and-a-half times the container’s height. Strong color contrasts and flowers with brilliant hues are preferred. Usually a full range of colors is used… Lots of foliage is associated with Victorian style flower arrangements. They are used to soften the appearance of tightly massed flowers. Ferns and ivies are popular inclusions.
Containers used in Victorian style flower arrangements are typically ornate and decorative. They should be showy but not outshine the flowers. A wide variety of containers can be used, ranging from China vases to baskets, urns, round bowls and other containers. Materials also vary. Two and three-tiered epergnes and stands are appropriate… [Brynn Jackson]
🌼🌸 Rose breeding really began in the early nineteenth century, and soon there were hundreds of gorgeous new hybrids… Regency and Victorian rose beds could be of almost any shape, though a group of wedge-shaped beds making a circle was always popular. [David Stuart]
🌼🌸 Except for the single flower in the small bud vase, the most popular style of Victorian arrangement was a tightly compact mass of flowers, greens, grasses, and ferns. The two-level epergne, with a flared top for flowers and lower tier for fruit, frequently was used for the centre of the dining table. Since the flowers selected were usually of a brilliant hue, strong colour contrast was a characteristic of Victorian arrangements. These gay floral groupings, however, were usually softened by ferns and other kinds of foliage. [Encyclopaedia Britannica]
🌼🌸 The Webster Dictionary defines ‘Epergne’ as: A ornamental stand, usually made of glass or silver, holding vase shaped dishes, trumpets or trays, used as a decorative centerpiece for serving sweetmeats, fruit, cakes, candy or flowers… While some English Silver Epergnes, date back as early as the late 1700's, for the most part, Epergnes became popular during the Victorian Area, 1800-1900. They seemed to be in their prime around the middle of the 1800's.The first examples were mostly silver. Later, glass bowls and trumpets were added to the silver ones. Soon, entire epergnes were being made of glass. They soon became a favorite decoration for the dining room table. [Richard Cottrell]
🌼🌸 Many of the vases used for early nineteenth century flower arrangements were similar to their predecessors. Glass and ceramic bowls, beakers, urns and vases of baluster, semi-circular, ovoid or decanter shape were favoured and bowls supported by a central leg or trio of figures were exceedingly popular. English porcelain factories churned out huge quantities of vases for flower arrangement by the thousands, including flowerpots with holes in the bottom and bases to stand on to catch any drips...
Vases and pots were produced in pairs and sets of three… and these garnitures, as they became known, (from the French word garnir meaning to garnish) looked very effective when they were placed centrally or either side of a mantelpiece…
Tables were placed in the centre of rooms, especially round tables with a bowl filled with wondrous flower displays. Tables or commodes between windows were another favoured place for flower display and the increase in cut flower arrangements was echoed, and indeed overtaken, by the increase in growing plants indoors on stands. These were placed under windows or in recessed window embrasures. [Carolyn McDowall]
🌼🌸 In Victorian times where the body of the deceased was laid out at home for many days a large array of floral tributes was a necessity. The Victorians were responsible for some of the customs we associate with funerals and floral tributes today. Many of the shapes of floral tributes originate largely from this period where the size, shape, colour and sometimes grandeur of the flowers was an important part of paying your respects. [Nicci Ball]
🌼🌸 Tussie-Mussies: “Talking Bouquets” – Tussie-mussies are also called nose[gay] bouquets. Traditionally composed of fragrant herbs held tightly together in a circular design with a single flower in the center, they became a popular floral gift during Victorian times. The custom of sending subtle communications with flowers began to influence what flowers were chosen based on the intended message. ...tussie-mussies [were] given as gifts and to acknowledge special occasions. The way a bouquet was held often indicated acceptance, acknowledgement, or approval. Though today’s bridal bouquets are generally larger than a nosegay, they are a modern example of a tussie-mussie. [janegerow]
🌼🌸 Reporting on the marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on 10 February 1840, The Times newspaper wrote that 'Her Majesty wore no diamonds on her head, nothing but a simple wreath of orange blossom'. The Queen's simple floral adornment, an emblem of chastity, spawned a fashion for orange blossom jewellery. [Royal Collection Trust]
🌼🌸 Queen Victoria… married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. As for her bouquet, Queen Victoria carried a small posy made up solely of snowdrops (Prince Albert’s favorite flower). In reference to bridal bouquets, there is a royal wedding tradition of brides including a sprig of myrtle in their bouquets… Sprigs have been included in the bouquets of all royal brides since the 1850s...
But it was Queen Victoria who created the vogue for the sweet smelling [orange] blossoms when she wore them in a grand wreath for her 1840 wedding, and the classic floral theme for the Victorian bride was set. The very influential etiquette journals of the 19th century dictated that every bride include the blossoms in her wedding. This was so opulently obeyed, that by the 1870s, one of the powerful arbiters of good taste in England, John Cordy Jefferson, was begging for a change from the all-white headdresses, stating ” ‘not one lovely girl in a thousand could wear without disadvantage the solely yellow-white orange-flowers’ “, according to Ann Monsarrat… When real orange blossoms were in short supply or in northern climates where citrus fruits did not flourish, wax replicas were used instead. [Lamber de Bie]
🌼🌸 This was the age, also, of the artificial flower. Feathers, wax, shells, paper, silk- all were materials from which floral decorations for the home were made. Some of these were beautiful, and many of them have survived to become museum pieces. Fabrics were embroidered with flowers, and floral forms dominated the needlework of the period. Everyone, including children, collected flowers and plants and pressed them.
Flowers covered every form of the decorative arts in the Victorian era. Furniture was carved with garlands of ornate flowers. Glass vases were often painted with flowers, and china-painting became a hobby that consumed the time and talent of Victorian ladies...
Flowers made from the hair of deceased relatives were arranged in frames, often surrounding a photograph of the departed. [Archived on OoCities.org Author’s name not given.]
🌼🌸 One of the very few predominantly female occupations to appear consistently in urban and suburban census enumerators’ books throughout the period 1851-1901 is that of artificial flower maker, or artificial florist. It is rare to find an urban enumerator’s book from the period which does not include at least one woman recording herself as an artificial flower maker, in most cases numerous women appear as such, despite the fact that making artificial flowers was generally a poorly paid and seasonal occupation. Artificial flowers were to be seen everywhere in Victorian Britain; it was not unusual for Hansom cabs to have a bunch in their windows, and women’s clothing was regularly decorated with them… artificial flower making was a big business, and thousands of women were employed both in factories, and in their homes, making the little blooms for a few shillings a day. [Amanda Wilkinson]
🌼🌸 As Benjamin Disraeli’s coffin was lowered into the ground on 26 April, 1881, the attention of the crowded mourners and reporters fixed on a simple primrose wreath amidst the mass of floral tributes left in the churchyard at Hughenden, Buckinghamshire. It had been sent by Queen Victoria, with a simple message attached: ‘His favourite flowers’. [Tom Crewe]
🌼🌸 ...the cult that… rapidly [grew] up around Disraeli’s memory… found its expression in two innovations: the Primrose League and ‘Primrose Day’. The former, founded in 1883, claimed to represent the ‘transformation into political energy’ of the emotions aroused by Disraeli’s career and death. By 1891 it had over one million members, and became the largest popular political organisation of the nineteenth century. There is considerable irony in this development, for Disraeli had always sneered at populism and, according to his intimate Lord Derby, had an ‘odd dislike’ for the middle classes – precisely those who were so prominent in organising the League’s tea-parties, bazaars, and entertainments. Nor would he have been particularly enamoured of ‘Primrose Day’, which fell on the anniversary of his death, and for decades was marked by an orgy of primrose tributes around the country: dramatic arrangements were laid at the base of his public memorials, and primroses were worn as buttonholes and in hats, as garlands, necklaces and even girdles. Gladstone’s private secretary derided this ‘sentimental hobby’ as ‘inappropriate and un-English’, and Disraeli would have agreed. [Tom Crewe]
🌼🌸 The language of flowers, sometimes called floriography, is a means of cryptological communication through the use or arrangement of flowers… Interest in floriography soared in Victorian England and in the United States during the 19th century. Gifts of blooms, plants, and specific floral arrangements were used to send a coded message to the recipient, allowing the sender to express feelings which could not be spoken aloud in Victorian society. Armed with floral dictionaries, Victorians often exchanged small "talking bouquets," called nosegays or tussie-mussies, which could be worn or carried as a fashion accessory. [Wikipedia]
🌼🌸 One of the most familiar of the language of flower books is Routledge's edition illustrated by Kate Greenaway, The Language of Flowers. First published in 1884, it continues to be reprinted to this day. [Wikipedia]
🌼🌸 [Floriography] spread way beyond actual flower bouquets, and into literature and fine art. Jane Austen and Emily Dickinson—both gardeners as well as authors—used the language of flowers in not only their writing, but their personal letters… Charlotte Bronte… expected you to understand that when Jane [Eyre] looks at snowdrops, crocuses, purple auriculas, and golden-eyed pansies in chapter nine, she’s feeling hopeful, cheerful, modest, and preoccupied with the connection between money and happiness.
Similarly, the Pre-Raphaelites relished the ability to add floral symbolism to paintings that already drew on mythic themes; Rossetti’s “Lady Lilith” might look sensual, but the white roses behind her belie a disinterest in carnality, while the poppies and foxgloves beside her suggest she’s sleepy, forgetful, and insincere. [Romie Stott]
🌼🌸 Botany was among the most popular of the nineteenth century sciences. Men, women and children all joined in the frantic hunt for plants, and the hedgerows were full of people cataloguing mosses, identifying ferns and pressing flowers. [Dr Jim Endersby]
Some useful resources:
History Of Floral Design On the flower expert.
Floral decoration Historical and Stylistic Developments. On the Encyclopaedia Britannica website.
5 Components of Victorian Floral Design By Brynn Jackson, on Flower Shop.
Victorian Garden Plants 1: Flowers By David Stuart, on David Stuart Gardens.
Victorian Epergne - Pronounced - E-purn. By Richard Cottrell. On the My Old Historic House blog.
Fashionable Flower Arrangements - An English Art Perfected By Carolyn McDowall, on The Culture Concept Circle.
Features of Victorian Era Flower Arrangements By Vaijayanti Joshi, on the Victorian Era website.
The Comprehensive History of Flower Arranging By Kali Simone, on Flowers Across Melbourne.
History of funeral flowers By Nicci Ball, on My Last Song.
Funeral Flowers Cabinet Card Photographs By Stephen Mills, on A Land of Deepest Shade.
Tussie Mussies By janegerow, on The Secret Language of Flowers.
How Queen Victoria and Prince Albert expressed their love through flowers is explored in a new exhibition On the Royal Collection Trust website.
Royal Wedding Flowers By Lamber de Bie, on Lamberdebie’s blog.
Myrtle Blossom in Marriage Bouquets... By Essie Fox, on The Virtual Victorian.
Flower arrangements for the Victorian Period On OoCities.org
A is for Artificial Flower Makers By Amanda Wilkinson, on An A-Z of Women's Occupations in Victorian Britain.
John Groom’s Crippleage and Flower Girls’ Mission, Clerkenwell, London On Children’s Homes.
Professions and Trades - Factory Manufacture / Making of - Artificial Flowers By James Greenwood, The Seven Curses of London, 1869. On The Dictionary of Victorian London.
The lost art of flower-making This [text] interview takes you into the vanished world of Victorian flower-makers with Beatrice Behlen, senior curator of fashion and decorative arts, and Natasha Fenner, curatorial assistant. On the Museum of London website.
Services Industry / General - Flower Girls, Sellers of Plants, Seeds etc London Labour and the London Poor; 1851, 1861-2; Henry Mayhew On The Dictionary of Victorian London.
Disraeli's flowery history By Tom Crewe, on gov.uk
Language of flowers On Wikipedia.
How Flower-Obsessed Victorians Encoded Messages in Bouquets By By Romie Stott, on Atlas Obscura.
Kate Greenaway's Language of flowers Reprint of the 1884 ed. published by G. Routledge, London Contains alphabetical lists of flowers and the meanings associated with them, and poetry section The book can be read online, or there are many download options.
The Language of Flowers On All Things Victorian.
The Secret Victorian Language of Flowers By Allison Meier, on Hyperallergic. A look at the meaning of flowers in Pre-Raphaelite paintings.
The lost plants of the Victorian golden age By Noel Kingsbury, on the Telegraph website.
Victorian Botany: An Introduction By Dr Jim Endersby, Adrian Research Fellow, Darwin College, Cambridge, on the Victorian Web.
Plant terrarium trend : History and significance By Andrea, on emarketingblog.
Floriography: The Language of Flowers in the Victorian Era On Proflowers. A collection of links to other websites.
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Date: 2017-01-02 02:21 am (UTC)Interesting about artificial flowers and women's occupation.
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Date: 2017-01-03 12:09 am (UTC)Did you read the article 'John Groomâs Crippleage and Flower Girlsâ Mission, Clerkenwell, London' in the link list - about a mission for blind and disabled girls? Any possible stories there, do you think?
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Date: 2017-01-03 02:12 am (UTC)Re: article. All the irregulars needn't have been boys, no? Or perhaps a case (MURDER AT THE CRIPPLEAGE!) or one girl makes a flower that Watson likes (for some reason, reminds him of his mother or Mary or Holmes himself). Holmes buys one now and again for him or they just happen to show in the hansom cab, then finally Holmes asks the girl to teach him how to make them. Or one of them catches Holmes in disguise and calls him out because he's not doing it right...or...[STOP!]