Bouquet "Gismonda"

In the winter of 1894, Sarah Bernhardt was the most famous actress in Paris, and for Gismonda she was both director and star. The production was reopening on 4 January 1895, and it needed a new poster.

It went to Alphonse Mucha, a Czech illustrator nobody had heard of, who had never made a poster in his life. He did not copy the loud, bright bills on every Paris wall. He drew her tall and narrow, larger than life, in muted green, brown, rose and gold. It went up on New Year's Day. Bernhardt saw it, eventually ordered four thousand copies and signed him for six years.

This autumn bouquet keeps to that palette. Peach Julietta spray roses, dense with petals; green hydrangea; the small coral flowers of euphorbia; and copper autumn leaves reaching past the edges. Nothing shouts. It holds the eye anyway. The hydrangea gives it weight, the roses give it softness, and the leaves make sure it never looks tidy.

It suits someone who runs the show, at home or at work. Or a long dinner on a cold November evening.

Delivered in Paris, Monday to Saturday; delivery is free from €100.

Some flower substitutions may occur if we find that the quality of the delivered blooms isn't up to our standards, but the overall color palette and style will remain intact.