19th century gold locket brooch - I'd love some info!

TinTrunk

TinTrunk

Registered Guest
19th century gold locket brooch - I\'d love some info!

I'm so thrilled with the responses I've had from my enquiries on this forum that I thought I'd raid my jewellery box for another go! I hope you can help me with this item.

This is definitely not for selling. It was my great aunty May's brooch, that was left to me when she died.

I'm pretty confident it is 19th century, but I'd love to pin down the date a bit more accurately. And I'm not the least bit concerned about value or condition, because its going nowhere!:

MaysBrooch_500w.jpg


There's a stone missing on the front (are the green ones peridot?) and a clumsy replacement of the pin at the back. I've looked at the gems with a loupe and the red one in the middle is actually chipped! Possibly glass??

No marks that I can see, and it is also very lightweight. In fact I'm sure its hollow.

MaysBrooch_bk_500w.jpg


This is a photograph of my aunty May with her husband Hubert. :) Perhaps this would have had some woven hair or a lock of hair, since I suspect it was originally a mourning brooch?

I have done some research online, but all I seem to get is high-end Victorian gold brooches - usually in 'Etruscan' style - that are billed as 'heavy,' which this certainly isn't! Our family was very humble so I know its not going to be a quality piece.

Thanks in advance for any information you can provide!

Sarah
 
That's lovely, Sarah!

According to Jeanenne Bell, the safety pin was invented in the mid-1800s but not used in jewelry till 1880/90, and the tube hinge was used till the 1890s. So that would make your locket likely to be Late Victorian...

Also, even if the photo currently in the locket isn't Victorian (looks like it's 40s?), the piece may have originally been meant to hold a photo. Here's a great selection of Victorian photo jewelry (my Holy Grail is a swivel brooch...):

http://www.morninggloryantiques.com/collectVictPhoto.html
 
I have no info to add, just wanted to say 1) it's beautiful and 2) how wonderful to have that photo on the back~ I'd love to have a keepsake like that in my family.
 
It's lovely. I think it's a C. 1880's Victorian Etruscan Revival Style brooch. I think it was "sentimental" jewelry - meant to hold a photo or lock of hair.

I purchased this piece about 30 years ago or so here in Hawaii from a woman whose mother was an antique jewelry dealer in England. Mine is 15K. It's possible that your "safety" pin clasp was added. I originally thought mine was a mourning piece but was told it was "Sentimental" jewelry.

Victorian%2015K%20gold%20brooch.jpg

Victorian%2015k%20gold%20brooch%20back.jpg



Linn
 
Cheers Carrie! That's a fantastic link, thank you! :clapping:

Yes, I suspect that photo is 1940s or even early 50s and I'm sure it was a much later addition. This brooch was probably passed down at least one generation.

Sharon - yes indeed! Its a treasure that I will keep forever. Especially because I have only a few photographs of my great aunt, and my great uncle Hubert died before I was born.

Linn - thank you! I wasn't sure about the Etruscan style because mine seemed a little more 'frilly' than the bold and chunky examples I saw online, if you know what I mean!

But your example has a similar dotted decoration to mine (its gorgeous, by the way) and I'm really grateful for your informed input.

Thank you for taking the trouble to upload a photograph of your exquisite brooch because its such a useful comparison. :USETHUMBUP:

Sarah
 
Nice Sarah! Keep raiding, so that we can see some more! ;)

Yes, defo Etruscan Revival with simulated granulation. I don't see any kind of replacement though -- everything is original, including the safety with chain. Also, am not seeing the green stones -- are they the stones in the center? Could they possible be clear with a bit of greening?

It's possible that the center stone is glass, but garnets although hard, can still fracture --- as can pink tourmalines and other stones. Since the setting is closed-back, it would be best to take to a jeweler for IDing (if the surrounding stones are glass though, then it's likely that the center stone is as well). They can also test the gold content for you while there (or you could buy a kit on eBay for around $20.00).

Carrie, your holy grail is a swivel? I have a large one somewhere -- with a tin portrait on one side and a cameo on the other. I tried selling it on eBay several times years ago, but no takers. I'll have to hunt for it and pull it out. Maybe the swivels are back in style, yes? :)
 
Carrie, your holy grail is a swivel? I have a large one somewhere -- with a tin portrait on one side and a cameo on the other. I tried selling it on eBay several times years ago, but no takers. I'll have to hunt for it and pull it out. Maybe the swivels are back in style, yes?
Click to expand...

Don't know if there's a trend or not, just that I think they're SO cool and have wanted one forever... I'd love to see yours!

Not to hijack Sarah's thread, but a funny (or sad?) story: I was at Brimfield this summer and asked one of the dealers who carried a ton of great antique jewelry if he had a swivel brooch--and he replied that it was a 1930s style! Oy!
 
Laura - That's really really helpful!

The green stones are at the centre and they're a kind of watery green colour and the red stone is a pinky crimson red.

I will take it to a jeweller to be assessed. In fact it was a recent trip to a jewellery shop that made me dig this brooch out - while I was there I noticed a similar brooch that was labelled as 'c.1815'!! :lol:

And what a wonderful swivel - with a cameo! Fantastic!

Carrie - I had no idea that photo jewellery was such an extensive field! Now I think of it, I have a small photo pendant with a picture of my grandfather as a boy (very sweet!) and his father on the other side.

Thank you everyone! I've learned so much! :clapping:

Sarah
 
Many of these earlier pieces of jewelry were originally for locks of hair. Most people couldn't afford photographs and they were not widely available until the 1880's although daguerreotypes were around from the 1850's on.

Linn
 
Lin is right there is definately an Etruscan Revival look and it is a mourning brooch. The space in back was generally used for locks of hair. Your stones are probably colored paste (a type of glass) the color is a bit off for garnet (yes there are many colors of garnet just not that color so much) It's beautiful. If I were to try and date it I would say around 1890's.

Melody
 
Linn - I would add that carte de visites and tintypes both emerged in the 1850s, which were more affordable for most people.

Karin - this is what I love about the VFG forum! You really do learn something every day!

Thanks michelhain! Like I said in the OP, its going nowhere!

Melody - thanks so much! Your info will be added to my notes on this brooch.

Cheers atticville! I appreciate that.

Sarah
 
One last comment - I mentioned that I originally thought that my brooch was a mourning brooch but was told on another forum that it was a type of "sentimental" jewelry. I am pretty sure that most Victorian mourning jewelry was either all black (like Whitby Jet, vulvanite or Bog Oak, etc.,) or if it was gold it had some black trim - like enameling on it. If you do a search for Victorian Mourning Brooch you will find some examples with photos and some that reverse for a lock of hair - but they are not decorated like Sarah's or mine.

Linn
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top