Artificial plants

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][2] Modern techniques involve carved or formed soap, nylon netting stretched over wire frames, ground clay, and mass-produced injection plastic mouldings.

Hundreds of artificial flower factories in the Pearl River delta area of Guangdong province in China have been built since the early 1980s.

[4] The art of nylon flower making is an easy to learn craft which uses simple tools and inexpensive material to achieve stunning results.

[8] Floral wreaths made by the ancient Egyptians were formed from thin plates of horn stained in different colors.

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.

These early artificial flowers were made out of many-coloured ribbons which were twisted together and attached to small pieces of wire.

[9] Wax flower sculptures were popular in the 1840s and 1850s in Britain, with noted sculptors including the London-based Emma Peachey and the Mintorn family.

[11][12][13] 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.