FLORAL DECORATION

the art of arranging living or dried plant material for adornment of the body or home, or as a part of public ceremonies, festivals, and religious rituals. Floral arrangement is more complex than simply putting fresh flowers into a tall vase, although such arrangements are naturally one of the more familiar aspects of the art. Line, form, colour, texture, balance, proportion, and scale are all important aspects of floral arrangement, and many design principles appropriate for this art form have evolved over the centuries. The container in which the arrangement is made and the base on which it will stand are also major considerations. Floral decoration is a three-dimensional art. Sculptural quality is produced by allowing some of the materials to project forward while others recede. Formal arrangements generally emphasize an outline, often a triangle, pyramid, or linear form, which is then filled by using contrasting colours, textures, and weights of floral materials. A visual centre is also important. Frequently, the floral artist adheres to the traditional Japanese rule, which dictates that the arrangement should be at least one and a half times higher than the height of its container. Different techniques create different styles of arrangement. A bouquet of flowers may be arranged in a tall vase with no need for artificial aids, but frequently a pinholder, wire netting, or plastic foam is required to hold the flowers in place. Florist's wire is used to extend the stems of certain flowers or to support the heads of others. Special tape can bind the stems for corsages and wreaths. Flowers can also be treated to last longer by soaking the stems in water and by cutting or crushing the stems before arranging. Artificial floral arrangements include the delicate porcelain flowers made in France and England in the 18th and 19th centuries and the festive paper flowers of Mexico and Japan. Swags and wreaths were popular in antiquity. A Roman mosaic of the 2nd century AD from Hadrian's villa at Tivoli shows a basket of cut flowers, thought to be the first such depiction in art. In the 17th and 18th centuries in western Europe, particularly in Holland and France, still-life paintings of flowers show the popularity and fashion of floral arrangements. China and Japan have a long history of floral arrangement, often linked to religious beliefs and philosophies. Ono Imoko in the early 7th century founded the oldest school of floral arranging in Japan, known as the Ikenobo, which spawned numerous descendants. Other important Japanese styles were the tatebana (standing flowers) and the rikka, introduced by Senkei in the mid-15th century; the latter introduced the unequal triangular outline, which was to set the pattern for later Japanese floral styles. The simple uncluttered forms of Japanese floral arrangement have become influential in Western nations, particularly in the United States. art of arranging living or dried plant material for adornment of the body or home, or as a part of public ceremonies, festivals, and religious rituals. Since the earliest days of civilization, humans have used floral decorations, composed of living or dried cut-plant materials or artificial facsimiles, to embellish their environment and persons. Flowers have played an important part in folk festivals, religious ceremonies, public celebrations of all kinds, and, of course, courtships. Sophisticated cultures have generally expressed a love for decorating with flowers by carefully arranging them in especially chosen containers, while other societies have used them more informally: strewn, made into garlands and wreaths, or casually placed in waterholding vessels without thought of arrangement. Additional reading Liberty Hyde Bailey and Ethel Zoe Bailey (comps.), Hortus Second: A Concise Dictionary of Gardening, General Horticulture and Cultivated Plants in North America (1941), basic for nomenclature; Victor Loret, La Flore pharaonique d'apres les documents hieroglyphiques et les specimens decouverts dans les tombes, 2nd ed. (1892), includes information concerning wreaths and garlands; Charles Victor Daremberg and E. Saglio, Dictionnaire des antiquites Grecques et Romaines d'apres les textes et les monuments, vol. l, pt. 2 (1877), lists flowers grown and ornamental uses (under Corona and Coronarius et Coronaria); John Gerard, The Herball (1597), descriptions and contemporary wood engravings of English garden flowers; John Parkinson, Paradisi in Sole Paradisus Terrestris (1629), descriptions and usage of flowers in 17th-century England; P. Giovanni Battista Ferrari, Flora ouero cultura di fiori (1633), on the culture and care of cut flowers, including how to preserve, arrange, and ship them, with interesting illustrations; Philip Miller, The Gardeners Dictionary, 2 vol. (1735), an important and popular 18th-century work, with full descriptions of garden flowers and illustrations; Helen Gere Cruickshann (ed.), John and William Bartram's America (1957), contains information about new plant discoveries and exchanges of garden material between America and England in the 18th century; Godey's Lady's Book (183098), almost monthly advice in the editorial pages about gardening or arranging flowers; J. Ramsbottom, A Book of Roses (1939), information about old-fashioned roses; Ralph G. Warner, Dutch and Flemish Flower and Fruit Painters of the 17th and 18th Centuries (1928), profusely illustrated; Julia S. Berrall, A History of Flower Arrangement, rev. ed. (1968), on all styles and periods, including original source lists of plant materials and many illustrations; Margaret Fairbanks Marcus, Period Flower Arrangement (1952), emphasis on art; Josiah Conder, The Theory of Japanese Flower Arrangements (1935), reprint of an original paper read by the author in 1889 to the Asiatic Society of Japan, to which have been added 36 colour plates of Ikenobo and moribana arrangements; Alfred Koehn, The Art of Japanese Flower Arrangement (Ikebana): A Handbook for Beginners (1934), with actual photographs instead of paintings; Donald Richie and Meredith Weatherby (eds.), The Masters' Book of Japanese Flower Arrangement: With Lessons by the Masters of Japan's Three Foremost Schools: Sen'ei Ikenobo, Houn Ohara, Sofu Teshigahara (1966), contains an excellent historic section illustrated from the arts and photographs in colour and black and white contemporary expressions; Shozo Soto, The Art of Arranging Flowers (1966), on all aspects of Japanese flower arranging, with excellent colour and black and white illustrations throughout. Later works include Gertrude Jekyll, Flower Decoration in the House (1982), and Colour Schemes for the Flower Garden, 8th ed. (1982); Emma Wood and Jane Merer, Flower Crafts (1982); Marian Aaronson, Flowers in the Modern Manner (1981); Tokuji Furuta, Interior Landscaping (1983); Interior Plantscape Association (U.S.), Manual of Practice (1980); Mary Adams, Natural Flower Arranging (1981); Edith Black, Modern Flower Arranging (1982).