were the subject of great interest. In 1521, the Spanish discovered superb gardens in Mexico. But it was Turkey, in the second half of the 16th century, that would be the greatest source of enrichment for our gardens.
Flowers in a Greek Vase
Adèle Riché
Watercolour on vellum, 51 × 64 cm
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tours
The extreme refinement of the Persian courts had prompted them to grow flowers which their priests celebrated. Vienna was the gateway to Europe for oriental flowers, Madrid the gateway for South American ones. From then on, these flowers slowly spread into the countries of the Holy Roman Empire, into Germany and the Netherlands. They were the favourite source of inspiration for the Mannerist painters. It is natural that this taste for flowers would create a new pictorial genre. Flanders seems to have preceded other countries in this respect. The oldest dated paintings of flowers are those of Jan Brueghel (1568–1625).
Flowers in a China Vase
Emma Desportes de la Fosse
Watercolour on vellum, 79.5 × 63.7 cm
Private collection, John Mitchell and Son, London
From Brueghel’s correspondence with Cardinal Borromeo, we know the Mannerists worked in botanical gardens themselves in order to produce bouquets, and even real herbaria. Catalogues of floral shapes were thus formed and used in various pictures. Gabrielle d’Estrées au bain (Gabrielle d’Estrées Bathing), attributed to the French School at the beginning of the 17th century and kept in the Musée Condée, displays genuine botanical studies in its compositions of plants.
Flowers in a Vase with Bird
Jean-François Garneray, 1832
Oil on paper mounted on paperboard, 57 × 47 cm
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tours
This approach continued throughout the whole first half of the 17th century, as Guirlande de fleurs (Garland of Flowers) by Gaspar Pieter II Verbruggen shows, or the Grand bouquet de fleurs (Large Bouquet of Flowers) by Jan van Huysum. The inlaid coloured mosaics of the Florentine specialists then included botanical reproductions, where jasmine flowers appeared in their tables and pictures of hard stone. These works certainly inspired the cabinet makers who transposed the same motifs onto wood.
Flowers in a Bronze Vase
Théodore Chassériau
Oil on panel, 72 × 62.5 cm
Private collection
This form of decoration may be called “floral” marquetry, since furniture thus adorned is designated by this term, as if it were a material. Gole’s inventory mentions “a floral table”; “a floral writing desk”. In the second half of the 17th century, naturalist floral marquetry was practised throughout a large part of Europe: in Paris, from at least 1657; by Leonardo van der Vinne working in Florence from 1659; in the Netherlands and in England. Marquetry with floral designs was very successful from the 17th century with Jan van Meheren, until around 1900 with Majorelle.
Bunch of Flowers on a Marble Table
Simon Saint-Jean, 1843
Oil on canvas, 36.8 × 29.2 cm
Private collection, London
In the Court of Versailles the taste of luxury was rediscovered in all its artistic expressions. Textiles in particular would become the most flowery of all the decorative arts. It must be said that the brilliance of the Lyon silk artists meant that nature could be faithfully reproduced. In every instance the artist’s precision is so great that the flowers can be identified. They were arranged so as to be seen from their most characteristic angle.
Republican Flowers
Marc Bruyas, 1848
Oil on canvas, 60 × 50 cm
Private collection
In the reign of Louis XIV, the flower became the dominant element of the still lives of Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer (1634–1699), Jean-Baptiste Blin de Fontenay (1653–1715)… adorning mantelpieces, carpets and textiles in the apartments… whilst the portraits of women are embellished with garlands of flowers… Floral painting also occupied painters specialising in the Manufacture des Gobelins (the State factory of Gobelin tapestry in Paris).
Tulips, Hydrangeas and various Flowers in a Vase
Jacques-Joseph Baile, 1852
Oil on canvas, 85.5 × 65 cm
Etude Chenu, Scrive, Lyon
In 1715, Boulle’s stocks consisted of “one hundred and seventy sketches and studies of flowers painted to life” and “approximately fifty sketches of birds painted to life by Patelson” which he must have used as a model for marquetry. This highly multi-coloured floral marquetry used tropical and indigenous wood. The essential oils listed in Gole’s stock are very revealing about the effects sought: Brazilian rosewood, purple wood, yellow wood, purplish-red wood, green ebony, orange wood, cedar, etc…
Flowers in a Japanese Vase
Augustin Thierriat, 1854
Oil on canvas, 65 × 49 cm
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon
Certain pieces of furniture on Gole’s list are stated as “marquetry in four colours” (or “in three colours”). Two writing tables and a bookcase “in four colours” were also found subsequently at Etienne Fromager’s in 1702. Eventually, some flowers such as roses, lilies, lilacs and jasmine were depicted in ivory, and certain details in coloured wood parquet were executed in pewter. The pillars of the central leaf on the large closet in the Victoria and Albert Museum is executed in this way; the wood used for the base is usually ebony.
Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase
Simon Saint-Jean, 1856
Oil on canvas, 47 × 38 cm
The Hermitage, Saint Petersburg
Instead of being formed from a plank of wood, however, the base could be in ivory or shell, as Daniel Alcouffe indicated at the
