A PAIR OF MID-VICTORIAN SHELLWORK FLOWER DISPLAYS

Garlanded cornucopiae, emblematic of Summer and the harvest deity Ceres, provide 'horns of abundance' for these everlasting floral bouquets. Apart from encouraging an interest in shells, an impetus for the manufacture of such flower vases was provided in the middle of the 19th Century by publications such as G.B. Sowerby's Conchologia Iconica, 1843-1878 (see J. Toller, The Regency and Victorian Crafts, London, 1969).