L'Herbier

Very exciting blog today!

I have always been obsessed with botany, if you can believe it. I think one of the most charming aspects of the study is the art of preserving herbs.                                                                                          

For five centuries botanists have dried and pressed plant specimens and attached them to paper as a means of recording different varieties. They would then be labeled with their Latin names, family names and location and date of gathering.

 

Collections of these “herbiers” are coveted. Usually housed in museums and herbariums, dorky people like me always make a point to visit these prized treasures...And I always drag my daughter with me which is probably why she hates my guts. To a teenager there must be nothing as boring as looking at dried herbs with her mother. I understand her pain because it’s the same way I felt when my mother used to drag me to Bullocks department store in Los Angeles to look at china patterns. But now I appreciate what my mother exposed me to and I am sure Gracie will as well… when she is about 85 years old.

As usual, with me, everything reverts back to interior design. And decorating with antique herbiers is no exception. Let’s take a look and then I have a big surprise at the end…

 

It’s not easy to find these collections and they are super pricey. Collections can run into the thousands.

 This set of 19th century herbiers is on 1stdibs.com for $12,000!

 

And now here comes the surprise! I found a collection and they are available in the shop! It’s the first time in all of my antique-ing life that I have ever come across a full collection. 38 total! I have framed 32 of them in a sublime antiqued gilt frame and 6 of them in a striking Monet blue faux bamboo frame. Each herbier is unique and labeled, circa 1920-1993.

 

Gorgeous as singles or in a grouping, they work in nearly every type of setting… Kitchen, powder room, bedroom, living room, entry or even a potting shed!

They are available in the shop today in the antiques category! Priced individually at $145 for the antiqued gilt framed herbiers (32 available) and $155 for the Monet blue faux bamboo framed herbiers (6 available). You can purchase as many as you like and what works for you. Just specify your quantity.

Click HERE to shop!

For more inspiration for decorating with herbiers, you can check out my HERBIER board on Pinterest HERE!