PICTURES
ARCHIVE ITEMS
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Description
In an age of complex manners and rules, Victorians used symbolism to speak a secret language. They were highly influenced by Romanticism in their jewelry fabrication. Today, as in the Victorian Era, a heart symbolized the sentimental love between the giver and the wearer. Double hearts entwined with a bow “bound together” were popular with young couples in the late Victorian period. A witch’s heart (a heart with the bottom curved to one side), was originally worn as an amulet in ancient times to protect against evil eyes and from witches stealing milk or harming newborn babies. In the 18th century, the motif evolved to imply that the giver had become “bewitched to fall in love” with the recipient.
Horticulture was a particular obsession for the Victorians with plants being sought out from all corners of the world to be brought back to England; as such Victorians were obsessed with flowers and their gardens. Flowers and plants had diverse hidden meanings for them... An entire 'language of flowers' was developed, known as 'Floriography.' Botanicals were thus in fashion and this carried over into jewelry design as well. The most popular of these motifs were forget-me-not flowers and they were worn for “remembrance.” Turquoise was a popular stone in sentimental jewelry beginning in the late Georgian period, and was especially popular in pavé settings through the century, its color reminiscent of Forget-Me-Not flowers. The white enamel may be a nod to the lost love of a child. White, for its modern connotations of purity and virginity is a color not currently synonymous with the concept of mourning. However, it was one that was typically used in mourning jewels in ancient times. Mourning jewelry’s primary use is to capture as much of someone that can be worn, so that the departed may remain close to us in a physical and finite form. In the case of memento moris created to honor the memory of a child, the child’s essence of purity and innocence must be preserved, if their memory is to remain as pure as they were.
Here we have two 18k gold enamel hearts that are intertwined with the flowers and a bow. They speak to the “fidelity of love." The dots resemble the fur dots of a royal mantle or robe. This charm was once a pin and has been converted into a pendant. Evidence of the conversion is visible on the back of the charm.
Horticulture was a particular obsession for the Victorians with plants being sought out from all corners of the world to be brought back to England; as such Victorians were obsessed with flowers and their gardens. Flowers and plants had diverse hidden meanings for them... An entire 'language of flowers' was developed, known as 'Floriography.' Botanicals were thus in fashion and this carried over into jewelry design as well. The most popular of these motifs were forget-me-not flowers and they were worn for “remembrance.” Turquoise was a popular stone in sentimental jewelry beginning in the late Georgian period, and was especially popular in pavé settings through the century, its color reminiscent of Forget-Me-Not flowers. The white enamel may be a nod to the lost love of a child. White, for its modern connotations of purity and virginity is a color not currently synonymous with the concept of mourning. However, it was one that was typically used in mourning jewels in ancient times. Mourning jewelry’s primary use is to capture as much of someone that can be worn, so that the departed may remain close to us in a physical and finite form. In the case of memento moris created to honor the memory of a child, the child’s essence of purity and innocence must be preserved, if their memory is to remain as pure as they were.
Here we have two 18k gold enamel hearts that are intertwined with the flowers and a bow. They speak to the “fidelity of love." The dots resemble the fur dots of a royal mantle or robe. This charm was once a pin and has been converted into a pendant. Evidence of the conversion is visible on the back of the charm.
