Two thousand years
of ornament.

Roman builders finished walls and ceilings in lime plaster and stucco, running mouldings by hand. The architect Vitruvius wrote down the classical orders, and the acanthus leaf of the Corinthian capital became the most copied ornament in history.

In France, ornament grew lighter and freer. The style took its name from rocaille, the shell and rock work of grottoes, and scallop shells, scrolls and asymmetric curves spread across ceilings and walls.

Lighter and more theatrical than the Georgian years. John Nash wrapped Regent's Park in white stucco terraces and turned the Royal Pavilion in Brighton into an Indian-inspired fantasy, while interiors favoured reeding, anthemion and slender classical lines.

Ceiling roses became a fixture of the Victorian home, set around the gas light at the centre of the room. Fibrous plaster, patented in 1856, made richly modelled roses and cornices affordable for ordinary houses.

Designers turned to nature. Victor Horta's Hôtel Tassel in Brussels (1893) and the work of Hector Guimard in Paris replaced classical rules with stems, leaves, petals and the flowing whiplash line.

The 1925 Paris Exposition des Arts Décoratifs gave the style its name. Sunbursts, fans, stepped ziggurats and chevrons brought glamour to cinemas, hotels and homes, and to New York's Chrysler Building (1930).

Flare brings these traditions into the present: architectural pieces designed and hand-cast to order in Shrewsbury, from ceiling roses to sculptural wall lights, finished raw or painted to suit your room.