<I>Bouquet holder, butterfly motif</I>

Robert & Josiah Walsham · ca.1871

Silver-plated bouquet holder with spade handle. The vase is pierce-cut with two stamped repeats of a pattern featuring a large open-winged butterfly. A hole for the floral pin is disguised within one of the upper portions of a butterfly’s wing. The pin would be inserted through the vase to pierce the stems of a bouquet in order to secure the flowers inside the holder. Below the butterfly is a network of flowers, leaves, and swirls. The entire surface is embellished with imitation-granulation and beading. The neck, which connects the vase to the handle, is formed by two acanthus leaves flanking the vase and splaying outwards. One of the leaves has a loop connected to two lengths of round-link chains. One of the chains attaches to the floral pin, and the second, shorter chain is linked to a simple ring. The ring would allow the bouquet holder to be worn from the finger or on a chatelaine at the waist to free the lady's hands while dancing. The handle is in a Gothic Revival trefoil shape that incorporates acanthus leaves on the inner and outer surfaces. A Bristish registry indicates that the firm of Robert and Josiah Walsham in Birmingham, England was the designer for the stamps used to create this bouquet holder.