The Brief History of Floral Pattern

A detail from Robe à l'Anglaise chintz dress Date: 1780–85 Medium:cotton Location: The Met Image: Public Domain

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For centuries, the people used real flowers to decorate clothing –  with floral wreaths, bouquets and brooches. It added a fragrant touch to any attire, personalized an outfit and gave it a sublime scent.

It was during 12th century China that fabrics beautifully embroidered with flowers and scenes of nature, were used in clothing. This trend quickly swept through many other Middle Eastern and Asian countries. By the end of the the century Japan was also using intricate floral embroidery on kimonos.[3.] 

However, when people really started to use flowers and to turn them into superb fabric prints? Let's try to figure it out! So, this will be a story about the birth of the floral print. And yet, it will also be a story about flower decor in different cultures, in different times and in different ways.

Ancient World 

Ancient Egyptians are known as the first florists. They created a designs of very highly stylized wreaths, garlands, and centerpieces for big events such as banquets, processions, burials, and temple offerings. In addition, flower arrangements were a luxury only available for the nobility and royals.

Characteristics of Egyptian floral design include order, simplicity, and repetition of a particular pattern. Flowers, fruits, and foliage were arranged in vessels like spouted vases and baskets. It is quite peculiar, because the Egyptians rarely showed a flower's stem and every blossom was flanked by additional leaves or buds. 
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Most often they used roses, acacia, poppies, violets, jasmine, lilies, and narcissus. They made their selections based on the symbolic meanings that they attributed to each flower, and the lotus blossom, in particular, was considered sacred. They believed its yellow center and white petals signified Ra, the Sun God, and its use was ubiquitous. [4.]

Lotus blossoms were mainly used to decorate floral burial tributes and, of course, they were used as a symbol of beauty and as some kind of fashion accessories.
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The Floral Design of Greeks, Romans & Byzantines 

Ancient Greek and Roman women used flowers in her hair, wore fragrant flower crowns, and garlands of flowers during festive occasions. By the way, the flowers as a decorations were used by men too. 
 
Three cornerstones of Greek flower design are the garland, the wreath, and the cornucopia or Horn of Plenty. Wreaths were especially important, and officially were made by florists. In Greek design, the flower’s color was never as important as its fragrance and symbolism associated with it. Greek flower arrangements included hyacinths, honeysuckle, roses, lilies, tulips, larkspur and marigolds. They also made use of decorative herbs like rosemary, flowering basil and thyme. These flowers were obtained from the trade. The Romans also had a lasting impact on our floral heritage, with Dies Rosationi (day of rose-adornment), a tradition in which they commemorated the dead by placing flowers at burial sites. 
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During the times of Byzantine Empire, Roman garlands were changed by making the foliage band more narrow and alternated flowers and fruits with the foliage. They also made spiral and conical designs, using clusters of blossoms at regular intervals. Flowers that were popular during this time were daisies, lilies, carnations, cypress, and pine. Basically, anything that was gold and jewel-toned, which represented the colored, mosaic tiles popular during this time. [4.]

The Floral Design of Medieval & Renaissance Era 

Portrait of Eleanor of Toledo and Her Son by Agnolo Bronzino, ca. 1545 Location - Uffizi Gallery, Florence Image: Public Domain https://www.wikiart.org/en/agnolo-bronzino/bronzino-eleonora-di-toledo-col-figlio-giovanni-1545

During the Middle Ages flowers were used mainly in churches and monasteries. Monks were the medieval florists who used flowers for medicinal reasons. While there was little floral decoration, fragrant flowers were sued to freshen the air and make garlands and wreaths. Medieval monks were gardeners who started to cultivate many exotic herbs and flowers, thus paving the way for the next era and its flourishing times of floral design.
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The Renaissance period saw a continuance of some of the characteristics of Greek and Roman styles. Fruits and cones, and foliage such as olive, ivy, and laurel were often arranged with the flowers. The most favorite flowers used in Renaissance era were daisies, lily of the valley, lilies, violets, roses, primroses. During this period were introduced the first Christmas wreaths. Floral designs were naturalistic at the beginning, but they became more ornate during the later Renaissance. 
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During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Venice and Florence were renowned for their sumptuous velvet fabrics incorporating gold and silver threads with large floral patterns after the pomegranate motif. [13. ] 

First fabrics with floral designs appeared during the late Middle Ages as Italian merchants traded regularly with Ottoman textile manufacturers and brought sumptuous woven velvet fabrics to Europe. Eventually Italian weavers figured out how to copy patterns of those Ottoman velvet fabrics, and began to produce luxurious textiles with organic motifs like pomegranates and vines. These early floral motifs, however, were quite ornate, heavy and stylized. [9.]

​The Floral Splendor Of Baroque & Rococo 

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​A silk-weaving industry existed in France from the fifteenth century, centered in the city of Tours. Under King Louis XIV, the superintendent of finance Jean-Baptiste Colbert launched an ambitious scheme to organize and promote the textile industries in France, both at home and abroad. Lyon, which had previously been an important trade center for merchants importing Italian textiles, emerged as the center of the reorganized industry, and subsequently overtook Tours as the largest French producer of luxurious silk textiles. [13. ]

In the mid-eighteenth century, English silk designers distinguished their work from the prevailing French taste for generalized floral types by producing spare floral patterns often based on actual botanical specimens or engravings.  [13.] 

The 18th century also showed the appearance of exotic flower motifs in Europe. And it was not silk fabric, but cotton printing, which changed the floral patterns.

One of the most famous floral fabrics, chintz was originally glazed calico textiles, that originated in India where it was handmade from between 1600 and 1800. Such textiles were printed with designs featuring flowers and other nature patterns in different bright colors, typically on a light plain background. Sometimes floral designs were depicted on a dark background as it can be seen on a picture above. 
In 18th century chintz has become very popular and, was exported to Europe via Dutch and British merchants during this era. By 1759, British manufacturers solved the mystery of chintz production, and were able to print it at a low price. [9.]  

Most printed cottons used for clothing were based on floral designs. By mid-century, fabrics were imitating fashionable silk brocades with European flowers (tulips, carnations, roses, and daises) incorporated into more traditionally Indian motifs on a white background. In the 1780's, bolder designs with twisting stems became increasingly fashionable. In the 1790's, small floral “sprig” designs with tiny motifs on pastel backgrounds became cheap, and therefore became popular for working class clothing; also, some clothing fabrics veered away from the white backgrounds to include yellow, red, and brown.

In France, these printed fabrics (no matter their origin) were generally called indiennes (French for “Indians”), although they were also known as toiles peintes (“painted cloths”) and toiles imprimés (“printed cloths”). [12. ] 

​The 18th century marked not only the beginning of the proliferation of exotic motifs in European fashion, but also the growing popularity of flower prints.

The Floral Patterns in the 19th Century 

The 19th century in a way showed the culmination of the popularity of flower patterns, but it was also eclectic in its approach and less original in the interpretation of motifs. However, this time also broke out with many bright moments. 

Influenced by the Industrial Revolution, textile production increased tenfold, and machine printed chintz fabrics flooded the market and were used extensively in women's day dresses. A large role has been given to the floral language of the 19th century. It was echoed by the romantic excitement for the past. 

Gifts of flowers, 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. [1.] Armed with floral dictionaries, Victorian people often exchanged with small "talking bouquets", called nosegays or tussie-mussies, which could be worn or carried as a fashion accessory. [11.] 

During the late 19th century European artists, especially the Impressionists, began to take notice of the arts of Asia. Depicting Chinese folding screens and Japanese kimono in their paintings, these artists once again started the trend for Orientalism which lasted until the World War II. Fashion fabrics of that era, especially those created in the Art Nouveau style, featured stylized and modern floral patterns inspired by examples from the East Asia. [9.]

Pierre Désiré Guillemet. Portrait of a Lady of the Court Playing the Tambourine, 1875. Image: Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pierre_D%C3%A9sir%C3%A9_Guillemet_-_Portrait_of_a_Lady_of_the_Court_Playing_the_Tambourine_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

​The Flower Power of the 20th Century & Contemporary Floral Patterns 

In the 20th and, especially 21st century, the classic floral motifs can be incorporated not only into garments, but also in headgear and footwear.  In the 20th century, the popularity of a particular flower is not noticeable. Rather, it is about wave of popularity for a floral patterns in the broader sense. However, some big trends, such as the "Flower Power"in the 60's or tropical flower designs of the 50's and 80's, and even floral leggings of the millennials, were significant indicators of their time.

Quite a recent fashion statements, such as the dramatic interpretations of flowers and spectacular fashion shows. Lingerie is one area of fashion design where floral prints or ornate floral details  are almost indispensable. [10.]  At the end of the second decade of the 21st century, we can also consider flower patterns as an important part of the "eternal fashion".

References & Further Reading: 

1. Laufer, Geraldine Adamich. Tussie-Mussies: the Victorian Art of Expressing Yourself in the Language of Flowers. Workman Publishing, 1993. 
2. Watt, Melinda. “Textile Production in Europe: Silk, 1600–1800.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. 
3. hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.7024 
​4.https://blog.patra.com/2016/06/20/floral-fabrics-where-did-they-stem-from/ 
5. https://owlcation.com/humanities/A-Short-History-of-Floral-Design 
6. https://www.theflowerexpert.com/content/miscellaneous/flowersandhistory/history-of-floral-design 
7.https://www.thespruce.com/guide-to-common-fabric-patterns-and-types-3862921 
 8. https://artlandia.com/wonderland/glossary/ 
9. https://fashion-history.lovetoknow.com/fabrics-fibers/chintz
10.https://www.nowthatslingerie.com/bradoctor/blog/blog-updates/a-brief-history-of-floral-fabrics/2011/03/30 
​11. theswatchbook.offsetwarehouse.com/2014/10/08/flower-fashion-ages/
12. ​en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_of_flowers
13. ​demodecouture.com/cotton/
14. www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/txt_s/hd_txt_s.htm ​
15. ​www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/83879