Dating the arrival of centre roses on to ceilings is difficult and while they had been a common feature of grand Baroque palaces across Europe in the early 17th century there is no doubt they came into their own with the well-heeled Georgians (1714) building their showcase family homes.Ever keen to add decorative flourishes to every aspect of their public rooms they hit upon ceiling roses as another way to add colour and design.
The truly magnificent versions in big houses in Ireland were made by highly skilled stuccodors and much copied fashions soon emerged with motifs ranging from the classical to nature-inspired imagery. Elaborate plasterwork became yet another way to display wealth with a rose just one decorative element on the ceiling. By the start of the Victorian era (1837) a plaster ceiling rose was the norm in even relatively modest houses - in Dublin they can be found in the small terraced red bricks and vast suburban villas - typically in the main reception rooms and the hall.
The same motifs were found everywhere including flowers, fruit and acanthus leaves. Their ubiquity was helped in no small part by new technologies allowing mass production - the Georgians would have had to have a craftsman in situ creating the roses, later Victorian builders could buy them off the peg and simply apply them as a finishing touch. By this time roses were the only decoration on the ceiling with cornicing of varying degrees of intricate design along the tops of the walls.
While there are exceptions, the Edwardians (1901) tended to favour plain roses - smart fuss-free discs of plaster. To see quite how much a decorative centre rose is part of period decoration, note how simply phoney they look in new builds.
