Anna Ancher (Danish painter, 1859-1935) Arranging Flowers
Otto Scholderer (German Painter, 1834-1902) Cutting Flowers for an Arrangement
The myth or symbolism of The Language of Flowers (floriography) is a means of cryptological communication through the use or arrangement of flowers. Meaning has been attributed to flowers for thousands of years, & some form of floriography has been practiced in traditional cultures throughout Europe, Asia, & Africa. Plants & flowers are used as symbols in the Hebrew Bible, particularly of love & lovers in the Song of Songs, as an emblem for the Israelite people & for the coming Messiah. In Western culture, William Shakespeare ascribed emblematic meanings to flowers, especially in Hamlet, & Henry VI, with its red & white rose symbols.
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Interest in floriography soared in Victorian England & in the United States during the 19th century. Gifts of blooms, plants, & 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.
Franck Antoine Bail (French artist, 1858-1924) The Flower Arrangement
Fernand Blondin (Swiss artist, 1887-1967) Return
Herbert James Draper (English artist, 1864-1920) Making Potpourri 1897
Joseph Hammer-Purgstall's Dictionnaire du language des fleurs (1809) appears to be the first published list associating flowers with symbolic definitions, while the first dictionary of floriography appears in 1819 when Louise Cortambert, writing under pen name Madame Charlotte de la Tour, wrote Le langage des Fleurs.
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Floriography was popularized in France during 1810–1850, while in Britain it was popular during the Victorian age (roughly 1820–1880), & in the United States during 1830–1850.
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In the United States the first appearance of the language of flowers in print was in the writings of Constantine Samuel Rafinesque, a French-American naturalist, who wrote on-going features under the title "The School of Flora", from 1827 through 1828, in the weekly Saturday Evening Post & the monthly Casket; or Flowers of Literature, Wit, & Sentiment. These pieces contained the botanic, English, & French names of the plant, a description of the plant, an explanation of its Latin names, & the flower's emblematic meaning.
Henry Meynell Rheam (British artist, 1859-1920) Arranging Flowers
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Dante Gabriel Rossetti (British artist, 1828-1882) Marigolds 1874
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