In a black bowl, these delicate 
glass flowers are wonderfully 
decorative. Courtesy of John 
Wanamaker 
a little pink—all blend with the apple 
green leaves, making these tin flowers, so 
prim and assured, a charming permanent 
decoration that harmonizes with and in¬ 
tensifies the colors in the chintz. 
So again, in decoration, it is simply a 
question of revival. About 3000 B. C. 
we find the Egyptians using imitations of 
natural flowers for ornament. These were 
made of painted linen and shavings of 
stained horn and probably made gay 
many a room on the banks of the Nile. 
Other countries took up the same idea, 
the Romans using silver and gold in the 
manufacture of their artificial flowers, 
the Chinese, rice paper, and in South 
America the plumage of highly colored 
birds was utilized. In the 16th Century, 
Venice became the center of a great glass 
bead making industry and now our 
loveliest bead flowers come from Italy. 
The French learned the art of flower 
making from the Italians and soon be¬ 
came expert. Today France sends us the 
marvellously wrought blossoms of shell 
and many of the beautiful and fragile 
glass flowers are made in Paris. These 
seem to me quite the most decorative of 
all, the delicacy and transparency of the 
material giving them an elusive loveli¬ 
ness. 
Shell has been used most effectively in the 
making of artificial flowers. These realis¬ 
tic looking roses are the palest pink, deli¬ 
cately shaded. Chamberlin Dodds, deco¬ 
rator 
For a permanent decoration, immensely 
effective are these branching pink and white 
blossoms made of shell. Courtesy of John 
Wanamaker 
These flame colored chrysan¬ 
themums made of glass are un¬ 
usual and beautiful. From John 
Wanamaker 
Quite as unusual are the flowers made 
of feathers, be they deep purple pansies, 
delicately-hued sweet peas or the gorge¬ 
ous orange toned lilies pictured here. 
There is a softness about these flowers 
found in none of the others and set in 
a breeze they have an immense advantage 
over the prim stiffness of the glass or 
shell ones. Then there are the ever- 
effective painted tin flowers and quite 
charming is the tin box to mix with them, 
according admirably with the general 
aim of stiff formality. Another form 
of artificial flower that is new and 
sure to become popular is made of lac¬ 
quered parchment. This gives a stiff, 
shiny surface and admits of the use of 
quite wonderful colors. A few mahogany 
colored chrysanthemums in a black jar 
against a neutral wall will transform any 
dull corner. 
So these flowers, which depend for 
their beauty on the materials and the 
sheer artistry shown in their manufacture, 
have a quite definite place. They are 
the last cry in the artificial and it is a 
case of truly painting the lily, but used 
with discretion and in the proper en¬ 
vironment they add a certain note of 
distinction that otherwise might be 
lacking. 
Glass flowers in various colors and shapt 
have a decorative value quite apart froi 
being mere objects of curiosity. By cow 
tesy of John Wanamaker 
Mattie Edwards Hewitt 
The little plant 
above has coral 
blossoms and jade 
leaves, quite in 
keeping with the 
Louis Seize com¬ 
mode. Mrs. Emott 
B uel, decorator 
A graceful vase 
with long crystal 
drops holds a mass 
of delicate, trans¬ 
parent glass flow¬ 
ers. By courtesy of 
John Wanamaker 
