The original artist would not have described this floral design as a shocking quilt flower but that’s what I see when I look at it. Christopher Dresser (1834-1904) included this design in his 1870 work Principles of Decorative Design as an example of using a kaleidoscope to show how repetition works. In this example, he also used floral motifs.
To me, it makes me think of a shocking quilt flower. The central circular flowers and the iris-like flowers in each of the corner remind me of a quilt block. But, it is the pieces that look a bit like covalent bonds from science class and little circles with electrical charges flying in all directions that has me adding the shocking descriptor.
Who knows what inspired Dresser. It probably wasn’t quilting square but one never knows about these things. Hopefully you can find all or part of this floral design useful.
This image is copyright free and in the public domain anywhere that extends copyrights 70 years after death or at least 120 years after publication when the original illustrator is unknown.
