The Beginning of the Art of Floral Design

IN THE BEGINNING…

When and where did the art of floral design begin? Most people would assume China, but it didn’t truly begin there until the Han Dynasty around 200BC.

If you said Ancient Egypt around the end of the Neolithic Period, 3000BC, you’d be correct!

The Ancient Egyptians assigned certain flowers to certain gods and goddesses (much like any other civilization), and therefore, different floral arrangements had their place on various occasions. The water lily, for example, was the flower of Isis, the goddess of rebirth; because of this, the water lily was a prevalent flower at funerals.

Most Ancient Egyptian floral designs were either tall and structured, or blooms floating in low bowls. Since these tall vased pieces needed bolstering, ancient designers began using small, split tree branches or vines, which they pushed down into the vase of water, creating an armature to hold stems up, much like modern designers use tape grids today.

It was a culture just emerging from the Neolithic Period in history, creating design techniques that designers still use to this day. Another example of this is that they integrated greens such as papyrus and palm with their florals, causing the designs to have a natural cohesiveness, appearing as if growing from the container. Nowadays, it’s very hard to imagine an arrangement as complete without the finishing touch of greens - and we can thank the Ancient Egyptians for that, as well as countless design methods used even now.