Object of the Day: Antique French Immortels

Flowers have so many meanings. We surround ourselves with flowers at both our most joyous and most tragic moments. We give flowers as gifts of celebration and sympathy. The beauty of every snipped bud quickly withers. We’re reminded of Shakespeare, “A rose will bloom, it then will fade. So does a youth, so does the fairest maid.”


In the Nineteenth Century, the French and the English strove to create lasting beauty. New methods of creating artificial flowers were explored and developed from wax to silks. Crossing the art of beadwork with the beauty of nature, delicate blooms of beads and wire were created. The French called these, “immortels.”

These beaded flowers would mark occasions such as weddings and funerals. For memorial purposes, intricate mourning wreaths were crafted. Often, these wreaths were preserved as a way of preserving the memory of the person who had passed away. Such is the case with this round French shadowbox. Mounted on scarlet mohair, ethereal blooms and vines in silver, blue and violet are nestled against silk leaves. Above them hovers a beaded dragonfly.

This rare object shows the ingenuity of the era and the delicacy of French beadwork. The beads were threaded on the wires, and then shaped to form these ever-lasting flowers. A reminder of the fleeting nature of youth and the immediacy of the beauty around us, these immortels speak volumes about the priorities of the time.