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Like many Victorian items, jewelry could hold a message
to those who knew how to interpret it. In the calling cards the message
was printed on the card, as shown below. A lady’s hand was one of the
most popular motifs in jewelry and the object the hand held symbolized
the message. Examples are roses for love; a dove for the soul winging
it’s way to heaven; forget-me-nots for remembrance; a wreath for hope
and eternal life. But some hands are lovely just for the grace of a
human hand.
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This scrap card is friendship greetings
"Friends will meet and friends will sever,
But true friendship lives forever." |
"Life bear for you it’s sweetest flowers"
The rose and dove symbolize peace and love. |
"May true friends be around you" |
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VICTORIAN pressed
horn hand brooch, 2-7/8", holding roses and forget-me-nots wreath laurel
sheaf symbolizing love victorious. English registry mark on the back for
August 18, 1870.
View
View #V8502 |
VICTORIAN vulcanite
hand holding wreath and flowers brooch, 3". See hand brooches in Luthi’s
Sentimental Jewelry on page 20.
View #V25275 |
VICTORIAN pressed horn hand holding sheaf and flowers pin,
2-7/8". May 18, 1880 English registry mark on back. For a similar brooch
see page 26 in Helen Muller’s "Jet Jewellery and Ornaments" and
"Warman’s Jewelry, Ed. 3" page 51.
View
View #V25278 |
VICTORIAN vulcanite
large hand holding wreath brooch, 3".
View #V29234 |
VICTORIAN
extra
large vulcanite hand holding a wreath of wheat and roses brooch, 3".
View #V29140 |
VICTORIAN
vulcanite hand and flower brooch, 2-3/4". Roses and
forget-me-nots wreath
laurel
sheaf symbolize love victorious
View #V25886 |
HAND BROOCHES
Back view
Top: hand holding wheat and flowers, probably made of horn, circa 1880,
hallmarked on back. View
#V8502
Middle: Width 1-7/8". #V13204 Bottom: Mother-of-pearl.
#V8500 |
VICTORIAN lady
wearing a hand brooch.
View |
VICTORIAN vulcanite hand brooch, holds a wreath of roses, 1-5/8".
View #V29895 |
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VICTORIAN hand
holding flowers, a piece that was originally part of a bracelet.
View #V25195 |
VICTORIAN
vulcanite hand holding wheat wreath and roses pin, 1-5/8".
View #V26088 |
VICTORIAN
2" vulcanite hand brooch holding sheaf and wreath of roses, symbolic
of hope
and love.
View #V13204 |
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VICTORIAN vulcanite hand holding sheaves pin, 2-7/8", small chip on
back. View
#V25346 |
VICTORIAN vulcanite hand
holding wreath of roses brooch.
View #V27296 |
VICTORIAN vulcanite hand
brooch, 2-7/8".
View #V27211 |
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VICTORIAN creamy plastic hand holding fan pin, 1-7/8".
View #V27251 |
VICTORIAN mother-of-pearl
hand pin, 1-3/4".
View #V25274 |
MOTHER-OF-PEARL
1-3/4" hand brooch holding a pearl and wearing a gold wire ring and
bracelet.
View #V8500 |
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VICTORIAN
ivory hand pin with ring and bracelet, 1-7/8". #V27847 |
VICTORIAN sterling hand pin
and clip with tiny Persian turquoise stones, 925/100 mark on back, 1-1/2".
View #V29842 |
VICTORIAN ivory hand brooch
with yellow gold band "bracelet" and rod, 2". View #V31786 |
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VICTORIAN vulcanite
hand holding fan pin, 2-1/3". Fans often referred to a
flirtation. English registry mark on back dates this to May 18, 1880. See page 127 of Helen Muller’s book "Jet".
View
View #V25190 |
VICTORIAN vulcanite
hand holding key and rose pin, 2-7/8" . See page 127 of Helen
Muller’s book "Jet".
View #V25281 |
VICTORIAN
vulcanite hand holding fan brooch, English registry mark on back for 1881, 2-1/3". See
page 127 of Helen Muller’s book "Jet".
View
View #V26702 |
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During part of the Victorian period from about 1860 to 1890, this jewelry
was the height of fashion and black was a stylish color, not just an
ornament of mourning. Made of jet, vulcanite, bog oak or pressed horn, each
carried special meaning as a memento of a loved one. A brooch in the shape
of a hand carrying a bouquet conveyed a message symbolized by the flowers.
Photos might be housed inside lockets and watch fobs, and portraits hand
painted on pendants and earrings. While some black jewelry was meant to be
worn during mourning, black jewelry was fashionable as well, and worn for
its beauty and sentiment.
JET is the black
fossilized wood of a particular tree that grew millions of years ago. It is
particularly associated with the English town of Whitby where much of it was fashioned into
jewelry and accessories. While jet was made into jewelry throughout the
1800’s, it was especially fashionable between 1860 and 1890. Like amber, it
will pick up paper when static is created by rubbing it on wool or silk.
VULCANITE (also sometimes called "ebonite") was made by combining and
heating sap of the Euphorbia or Ficus trees from Malaysia with sulphur.
Invented in 1843 by Thomas Hancock, pieces made of vulcanite were almost always molded, not carved,
and it was used mainly in making jewelry.
HORN is the natural horn of an animal, pressed into a mold to form jewelry.
BOG OAK is fossilized wood or peat found in Ireland. It is a
brownish-black, and has a woody texture.
FRENCH JET and CREPE STONE are black glass, and not truly jet at all. Like
all glass, they will be colder to the touch and heavier than jet or
vulcanite.
BOIS DURCI was invented by Francois Charles Lepag in 1856. It is a
composition of fine hardwood sawdust and blood which is pressed then highly
polished.
GUTTA PERCHA is the sap of the Dichopsis tree also found in Malaysia. Invented
by William Montgomerie in 1843, it was
used mainly in technical articles, e.g. driving belts, stoppers, tubs,
pails, cups, washing drums and cables. It was also used for household
purposes such as mouthpieces for whistles, sticks and riding whips. It was
very rarely used for jewelry.
Pieces like these, circa 1860-1890, can be seen in Helen Muller’s
book Jet and in Christie Romero’s Warman’s Jewelry,
Ed. 3 on pages 51 and 52.
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VICTORIAN vulcanite
hand with lacy cuff holding basket pin, 2-1/3".
View #V25280 |
VICTORIAN
vulcanite
hand holding basket of fruit brooch, 3".
View #V25880 |
VICTORIAN vulcanite
hand with fluted cuff holding basket pin, 2-1/4". See page 127 of Helen
Muller’s book "Jet".
View #V25279 |
VICTORIAN vulcanite
hand holding a basket of fruit brooch.
View #V29146 |
VICTORIAN
jet hand brooch, crescent shaped with a hand holding arc of
flowers, 1-3/4". View
#V25878 |
VICTORIAN vulcanite hand holding basket brooch
with c-catch, circa 1880, .
View #V27230 |
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VICTORIAN vulcanite hand holding basket brooch,
Rd No 15623 for date 1885, 2-3/4". Old c-catch replaced long ago
with a safety catch.
View #V27230 |
VICTORIAN vulcanite hand
holding basket brooch, circa 1880, 1-3/4".
View #V28133 |
VICTORIAN vulcanite hand
holding basket of fruit brooch, 2-1/4".
View #V27376 |
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VICTORIAN horn hand with basket of fruit brooch, 2-1/4" . View #V29814 |
VICTORIAN pressed horn hand
holding basket brooch, marked on back "Rd. 15623", 2-1/4".
View
View #V29763 |
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VICTORIAN hand pins
to show comparative sizes. See page 127 of Helen Muller’s book "Jet". |
VICTORIAN
vulcanite "Fede" or clasped hands pin signifying friendship, 2-5/8". English
registry mark on back May 18, 1880.
View
View #V25192 |
VICTORIAN jet pendant with
painted porcelain lady with a mirror portrait, 2".
View #V25926 |
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VICTORIAN vulcanite
hand pin, 2-1/4". View #V25277 |
VICTORIAN vulcanite hand with
rose symbolizing love brooch, 1-3/4".
View #V29144 |
VICTORIAN vulcanite hand with pointing finger brooch, 2-1/8".
View #V28894 |
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VICTORIAN vulcanite hand
holding rose for love brooch, 1-7/8".
View #V25194 |
VICTORIAN vulcanite hand
holding rose brooch, 2-1/4". See page 127 of Helen Muller’s
book "Jet".
View #V27225 |
VICTORIAN vulcanite hand
holding single flower pin, 1-3/4".
View #V25276 |
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VICTORIAN vulcanite
hand holding wild roses brooch, 2".
View #V25187 |
VICTORIAN vulcanite hand holding forget-me-nots brooch, 1-5/8".
View #V24995 |
VICTORIAN
vulcanite hand holding flowers pin, 2-1/8".
View #V25191 |
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VICTORIAN
hand surrounded by flowers pin, very unusual carved vulcanite, 2-1/8". See
page 127 of Helen Muller’s book "Jet".
View #V25193 |
VICTORIAN
vulcanite hand holding bird pin, 2". "P. Pat No.13124", circa
1884.
View #V26449 |
VICTORIAN
pressed horn hand surrounded by wreath brooch, 2-1/8". See
similar brooch in Carole Tanenbaum’s "Fabulous Fakes" on page 22.
View #V25925 |
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VICTORIAN vulcanite hand
brooch holding daisies, 2-1/2".
View
#V28370 |
VICTORIAN
vulcanite hand brooch in a very unusual shape, 2-1/3". View
View #V28774 |
VICTORIAN vulcanite hand
holding tennis racket brooch, 2-1/8". See page 127 of Helen
Muller’s book "Jet".
View #V29509 |
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For more information about JET and other Victorian
black jewelry we recommend the excellent book ‘Jet’ by Helen Muller
and "Whitby Jet" by Katy & Helen Muller.
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"Jet" by Helen Muller |
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Helen Muller |
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