The Long History of Artificial Plants

Centuries ago, silk flowers and wax petals took center stage. And to this day, they haven’t left.

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Today, we’ll dig through the annals of history, tracing the origins of artificial plants as they wind their way through time, from the ancient Roman and Egyptian eras to the opulence of Marie Antoinette’s France. Along the way, we’ll witness the transformative technology that ushered in the plastic era and continues to sculpt our modern landscape.

So, when were fake plants invented?

Let’s find out!

The History of Artificial Plants

Unfortunately, we don’t know who invented fake plants. But what we do know is that the first artificial flowers weren’t made of plastic, but silk.

To unravel the timeline of artificial plants, we’ll have to venture into the history of artificial flowers. This is where it all began.

The Roman and Egyptian Era

Like most decorative elements, it’s impossible to pinpoint the exact time artificial flowers emerged, as the original versions bore little resemblance to what we have today. But scientists speculate that artificial plants can be traced back to the early Roman and Egyptian civilizations.

Historical evidence reveals that ancient Egyptians crafted floral wreaths from thin horn plates stained in different colors. These wreaths adorned homes and celebrations and served as some of the earliest examples of artificial plant decoration.

Around that time, the ancient Romans developed and perfected the art of replicating flowers in wax. Their craftsmanship was so ingenious that it remains unmatched to this very day. In fact, flowers held such cultural significance in Roman society that Crassus, a notable Roman general and statesman, adorned victors in games with crowns made of gold and silver artificial leaves.

Ancient Chinese Legends

 

Some historians believe that they can trace the roots of contemporary fake foliage to ancient China 1,500 years ago. During this era, the Chinese began cultivating silk, reportedly inspired by the legend of Leizu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor.

As the tale goes, Leizu was sipping tea in her garden when a silk moth’s cocoon fell into her cup and unraveled. Upon inspecting the cocoon, she came to the idea of using it to create soft fabric. And so, silk production was established.

Another legend tells of the Chinese emperor Tang Xuanzong’s beloved concubine, Yang, who sought to conceal a scar on her left sideburn. Palace girls used to pick natural flowers to put in Yang’s hair, but when winter came around, the flowers would wither. Then, a palace girl made the first artificial flower from ribs and silk for Yang to wear during the winter, giving birth to the “headdress flower” and the “imitation flower” craft.

Despite these innovations, the cost of silk rendered it affordable only for the elite, who employed it for artistic expression, not mass production.

Centuries later, skilled craftsmen began creating intricate silk flower arrangements for China’s upper crust. These delicate blooms found their way into noblewomen’s portraits and adorned the hair of women at the Imperial Palace.

The Royal Emblem

When silk flowers arrived in France during the 1300s, the French hounded the new product and began experimenting with the craft. Thanks to their impeccable-quality silk, French artisans created their own renditions of lifelike silk flowers.

The French were so committed to the craft that they developed a reputation for mastering the art of crafting silk flowers. During Louis XVI’s reign in the 1700s, French silk flowers were celebrated for their craftsmanship, with one anecdote claiming that Marie Antoinette fainted upon seeing a silk rosebud.

Paintings from that era corroborate this love affair, as roses became the queen’s “royal emblem.” Her fondness for floral hair accessories billowed into wider aristocratic circles, solidifying silk flowers as must-haves for French noblewomen.

The French Revolution that ended Marie Antoinette’s reign also dispatched hundreds of French craftsmen to the United Kingdom. There, they introduced the British to silk flower manufacturing. Eventually, the British brought the craft to the Americas, where it flourished independently.

The Victorian Era

The mid-1800s ushered in the Victorian Era, a period characterized by ostentatious displays of wealth. Victorians held a deep appreciation for intricate detailing, rich materials, and ornate patterns, which perfectly harmonized with their love for floral art.

The Victorians lauded floral arrangements so much that they used bouquets to send messages to loved ones, a practice known as “the language of flowers.” Of course, the aristocracy showed no preference between silk and real floral arrangements, as they could afford both.

During this period, the world also witnessed the birth of the first artificial flowers made from textiles like crepe, gauze, and even satin. The Victorians, in their quest for extravagant decorations, spurred the evolution of artificial wreaths and ornaments and enjoyed the luxury of choice. 

The Rise of Plastic 

In the 1920s and 1930s, silk flowers became prominent in various displays and arrangements, often compensating for seasonal shortages. As technological advancements flourished, manufacturers turned to a new material called celluloid (a type of plastic) to create fake flowers.

Celluloids marked a significant shift towards more affordable and easily produced artificial plants. But since it was highly flammable and caused a few deadly fires, merchants ceased its import. This led to florists adopting another inexpensive yet durable material - plastic.

Plastic caused a boom and the industry was abuzz with opportunity. Manufacturers clamored to squeeze the most out of the new material and produce even more realistic leaves and flowers. On the other hand, florists emerged with creative ways to include fake foliage in design.

The Modern Age

Today, artificial plants come in an array of shapes, sizes, colors, and materials. Over time, the emphasis has shifted toward owning high-quality artificial plants that are nearly indistinguishable from their living counterparts.

While the appeal of fake flowers remains strong, they have evolved beyond mere home decor. They are a statement.

In the modern age, lifelike artificial plants offer a low-maintenance alternative to traditional gardening and symbolize sustainability and environmental consciousness. They represent  more eco-friendly choices and allow admirers to enjoy the beauty of nature without the ecological footprint associated with live plants. 

What Does the Future Hold?

But our journey is far from over - there’s so much in store for the future.

Fauxliege is becoming more realistic by the minute and they can adapt to any space and purpose. We expect a surge in popularity resulting in more online and brick-and-mortar stores selling faux greenery.

Aside from this, fake plants will become a mainstay in many locations and will grace the interiors of stores, restaurants, bars, cafes, hotels, and homes.

Expect a relentless pursuit of quality and sustainability. This quest may lead to a broader array of artificial greenery suitable for diverse environments and design styles. Manufacturers will turn to recycled materials and find new ways to make fake plants even more environmentally friendly.

As for the distant future, who knows?

We may even discover new and better materials for manufacturing artificial plants. Innovations have a way of surprising us, and we’re excited to see what the future holds for our beloved fake greenery.

Imitations of natural plants used for commercial or residential decoration

"Fake Flowers" redirects here. For the song by Train, see Fake Flowers (song)

Artificial flowers made from plastic A plastic bush

Artificial plants are imitations of natural plants used for commercial or residential decoration. They are sometimes made for scientific purposes (the collection of glass flowers at Harvard University, for example, illustrates the flora of the United States).[1] Artificial plants vary widely from mass-produced varieties that are distinguishable from real plants by casual observation to highly detailed botanical or artistic specimens.

Materials used in their manufacture have included painted linen and shavings of stained horn in ancient Egypt, gold and silver in ancient Rome, rice-paper in China, silkworm cocoons in Italy, colored feathers in South America, and wax and tinted shells.[1][2] Modern techniques involve carved or formed soap, nylon netting stretched over wire frames, ground clay, and mass-produced injection plastic mouldings. Polyester has been the main material for manufacturing artificial flowers since the 1970s. Most artificial flowers in the market nowadays are made of polyester fabric.[3]

Production

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The industry is now highly specialized with several different manufacturing processes. Hundreds of artificial flower factories in the Pearl River delta area of Guangdong province in China have been built since the early 1980s. Thousands of 40-foot containers of polyester flowers and plants are exported to many countries every year.[citation needed]

Polyester and paper

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Paper flowers

Five main processes may be distinguished:

• The first step consists of putting the polyester fabric in gelatine in order to stiffen it.
• The second consists of cutting up the various polyester fabrics and materials employed into shapes suitable for forming the leaves, petals, etc.; this may be done with scissors, but is more often done with stamps that can cut through a dozen or more thicknesses at one blow.
• Next, the veins of the leaves are impressed by means of silk screen printing with a dye, and the petals are given their natural rounded forms by goffering irons of various shapes.
• The next step is to assemble the petals and other parts of the flower, which is built up from the center outwards.Flower bouquet with prepared rose blossoms and silk flowers
• The fifth is to mount the flower on a stalk of brass or iron wire wrapped with suitably colored material, and to add the leaves to complete the spray.[1]

While the material most often used to make artificial flowers is polyester fabric, both paper and cloth flowers are also made with origami.[4]

Nylon stocking flowers

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The art of nylon flower making is an easy to learn craft which uses simple tools and inexpensive material to achieve stunning results. Nylon flower making enjoyed a brief popularity in the United States in the 1970s and soon became very popular in Japan. In recent years, the craft's popularity has spread Asia, Europe and Australia. With the advent of new colors and materials, the art has expanded to infinite new possibilities of nylon flower making.[5]

The basic materials needed to make nylon flowers include: wire, stem wire, nylon stocking, nylon threading, floral tape and stamen. Some flowers require cotton balls or sheets (or batting), white glue, acrylic paint and paint brushes.[5]

Silk flowers

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Silk flowers are crafted from a protein fibre spun by the silk worm, producing lifelike flowers. Flowers described as being made of silk with a "real touch technique" are not made of silk, but rather are made of polyester, polymers and plastics.[6] Moreover, textile items made of polyester but marketed as "silk" violate the US federal law – specifically the 1959 Textile Fiber Products Identification Act.[7]

Soap

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There are two methods:

• Carved: A bar with layered coloured soap is mounted in a lathe, and circular grooves are chiseled into it. The finished flower is symmetric and regular, but the flowers are not identical and can be called handmade.
• Moulded: An oil-less soap milled to a powder is mixed with water, and the paste is used as a modelling material. Leaf and petal textures are stamped or rolled onto the soap. This is an expensive, labour-intensive process.

Clay

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Clay flowers are made by hand from special air-dry polymer clay or cold porcelain, steel wire, paint, glue, tape and sometimes paper and foam as a filler. With the help of cutters, where each flower has its own cutter set, the parts are cut from the still soft clay and then formed with specially designed tools. After drying, these parts are, when needed, painted with precision and then very precisely assembled into a whole flower. When made by a skilful artisan, clay flowers can be very realistic. From Thailand, where this art is very popular, it has spread to Europe, Russia and the US.

Glass

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Glass is melted and blown by hand into flower shapes. Working with glass at high temperatures to form a flower is very difficult, which is why glass flowers are much more expensive than typical artificial flowers.

Plastic

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Injection moulding is used for mass manufacture of plastic flowers. Plastic is injected into a preformed metal die.

Simulacraceae

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The journal Ethnobotany Research and Applications published a tongue-in-cheek paper that claims to be the culmination of a six-year project in the exhaustive taxonomy of artificial plants, and lumped the group into a single family called the Simulacraceae ("the family of simulated plants").[8]

History

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Mexican paper flower craftswoman

Floral wreaths made by the ancient Egyptians were formed from thin plates of horn stained in different colors. They also sometimes consisted of leaves of copper, gilt or were silvered over. The ancient Romans excelled in the art of imitating flowers in wax and in this branch of the art attained a degree of perfection which has not been approached in modern times. Crassus, renowned for his wealth, gave to the victors in the games he celebrated at Rome crowns of artificial leaves made of gold and silver.[2]

In more recent times, Italians were the first to acquire celebrity for the skill and taste they displayed in this manufacture. Later English, American, and especially French manufactures were celebrated. The Chinese and Japanese show great dexterity in this work. These early artificial flowers were made out of many-coloured ribbons which were twisted together and attached to small pieces of wire. But these first attempts were decidedly crude.[2]

In the first half of the 19th century, the Swedish artist Emma Fürstenhoff became internationally renowned in Europe for her artificial flower arrangements of wax in a technique regarded as a novelty in contemporary Europe.[9]

In the 1910s, Beat-Sofi Granqvist studied the manufacture of artificial flowers in Germany. After returning to Finland, she founded Finland's first artificial flower factory, next to her apartment at Pieni Roobertinkatu 4-6.[10][11][12]

In the course of time feathers were substituted for ribbons, a more delicate material, but one to which it was not so easy to give the requisite shades of color. The plumage of the birds of South America was adapted for artificial flowers on account of the brilliancy and permanence of the tints, and the natives of that continent long practised with success the making of feather flowers. The London Zoo contains a collection of artificial flowers made out of the feathers of hummingbirds.[2]

Gallery

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• Artificial roses

• Artificial leaf display

• Rose-shaped candle

• Artificial fern

• Fake tree and ground plants in an indoor display

• cellphone tower disguised as a tree

See also

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References

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