Mourning and Sentimental Jewelry, Post Mortem Photography, Memento Mori
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Accessories: This category includes things like cufflinks, hair combs, watch chains, purses, compacts, boxes, hair ornaments, vinaigrettes, and chatelaine pieces.
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Agate - Scottish Agate - Moss Agate - Malachite: Scottish Agate - Agate or Pebble jewelry has long been crafted in Scotland. When Queen Victoria married Prince Albert they purchased Balmoral Castle in Scotland as a vacation home. She was very happy there and wanted to carry her joy home and purchased lots of Scottish Agate jewelry. (Victoria was known to be a lover of jewelry.) British ladies, wanting to emulate her, bought their own Scottish jewelry, setting off a trend for Scottish jewelry even if you had never been there. These pieces are usually set in sterling although they can be found in gold.
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Bog Oak: Bog Oak comes from oak trees which are beginning to be fossilized after being buried in peat bogs for hundreds to thousands of years. The low oxygen levels keep the wood from rotting while the acidic conditions of the peak allow iron salts to react with tannins in the wood turning it black and very hard. Bog Oak is found in the peat bogs of Ireland and most Bog Oak jewelry is a souvenir of Ireland, not necessarily mourning. Bog Oak can be distinguished from other Victorian black materials by a usually Irish subject matter ( shamrocks and castles) and a visible wood grain.
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Bracelets:
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Cameos:
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Charms and Charm Bracelets:
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Coral:
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Earrings:
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Feathers:
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Garnets: Victorian garnet jewelry was usually made using Bohemian garnets, which are from Czechoslovakia. They are a deep red color. They can be rose cut or flat cut, and can be foiled (backed by a small snippet of shiny tinfoil) or not.
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Gold:
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Gold Filled Jewelry:
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Hair Jewelry: Hair jewelry was usually made to memorialize a departed loved one, or as a sentimental token of affection. It was also worn just to be fashionable. Hair could be made into jewelry by utilizing several different techniques.
A simple lock of hair could be curled into a locket.
Hair painting was done using macerated (cut up finely) hair. The pieces of hair were mixed with the pigment and applied with it or could be treated like mosaic tiles and carefully set in place. This technique gave texture to the grass at people's feet or gave leaves to willow trees.
Table working hair makes hollow woven tubes and shapes, like globes or acorns, and is done by weaving the hair through a hole in the center of a small table. The woven strands are weighted to keep the weaving smooth.
Flat, curled hair designs, glued into shape and then glued to the background. They can be cut into petals or leaves and decorated with pearls or gold wire. These are usually set under glass.
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Horn Jewelry: Before the invention of plastic horn was used to make jewelry. Horn was pressed between iron plates and treated in water and oil baths in a long, nasty process to produce flat sheets. It could then be cut into jewelry and hair combs or pressed into molds. Horn can be identified by its light, plastic-like feel, glossy finish, and opaque translucence. With time the layers of pressed horn can separate, and insects will often chew on it (since it is organic).
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Jet Jewelry: Jet is a type of coal which is hard enough to be carved with great detail and can be polished to a glossy finish. It can be found all over the world but the best and most famous comes from Whitby in England. Jet was popular for its lightness, especially in the time period when oversized jewelry was fashionable. Being black,it was a popular material for mourning jewelry.
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Lockets:
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Mizpah Jewelry: Mizpah is Hebrew for "watchtower". In the biblical story of Jacob and Laban, they built a pile of stone to mark their agreement, with God has a witness. In Genesis, Laban says to Jacob, "The Lord watch between me and thee, when we are absent, one from another". Giving a piece of mizpah jewelry was saying to someone "God watch over you". This jewelry was exchanged by two people who had an emotional bond, and was believed to help strengthen the bond.
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Necklaces:
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Onyx Jewelry: Onyx was a popular choice for mourning jewelry because it is black.
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Pendants:
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Pietra Dura Jeweley: Pietra Dura (hard stone in Italian ) mosaic pieces were made by cutting small pieces of stone and assembling them into a background to form a picture. The Italian city of Florence was famous for its Pietra Dura and many were purchased there by victorians as souvenirs of their Grand Tour.
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Pins - Including Sash Pins: SASH PINS - Sash pins were large heavy pins with thick pin stems from around 1890 through 1915. The fashion at this time was to wear a sash over the shoulder and across the chest (like Queen Victoria); or with the lighter Edwardian fashions, around the waist. These pins were used to secure the sash to the dress and were large and heavy to pin through multiple layers of cloth. They come in many styles and motifs.
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Rings:
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Sets:
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Silver and Sterling - Siam Sterling:
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Snake Jewelry and Ouroboros: Snakes were a popular subject for Victorian jewelry. The Victorians were fascinated by the classical world which was coming to life for them due to many archaeological discoveries during this period. The classical peoples thought snakes were important,so the Victorians did too. Classical people considered snakes to be the ultimate worshiper of the Mother Earth because they laid their entire bodies down upon her. To them, snakes were sacred symbols. The Christian Bible turned the snake into an evil character to overcome this belief and aid in the conversion of pagans to Christianity. To the Christian philosopher, the snake sloughing off his skin represents the transmigration of souls - the soul passes from life to life in the eternal cycle of life and death.
Ouroboros - This is the oldest mystical symbol in the world. It came to the West from Egypt via Greco-Roman culture. "Ouroboros" means "the tail-devourer". It is a snake forming a circle by swallowing his own tail or forming a lemniscate (symbol for infinity).Ouroboros symbolizes Infinity. On a deeper level it symbolizes wholeness in the eternal cycle of life, death and rebirth - the eternal return. In mourning jewelry this would be resurrection and the rebirth of a soul into heaven.On a even deeper philosophical level, as Ouroboros swallows his tail (the past), it seems to disappear but is never really gone. It is only moved onto a internal plane. Out of sight, but not out of mind - never really gone from your heart.
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Stick Pins:
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Vauxhall Glass: Vauxhall glass jewelry was made from thin pieces of mirrored colored glass. It was popular in both the Georgian and Victorian periods. It was made at the Vauxhall Glass Works in London. The thin pieces of glass are very fragile and this makes the pieces fairly scarce, especially in great condition.
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Vulcanite Jewelry: Vulcanite is one of the earliest man-made plastics, patented about 1846. It was in heavy usage during the Civil War years. During this time period, massive jewelry was in vogue, and many woman were in mourning. Vulcanite, being plastic, was cheap and light while still being the mandatory mourning black. Vulcanite jewelry is never carved, but always molded, and smells like burning rubber when heated.