Symbols used in Victorian Jewlery
Symbolism was extremely important to the Victorians. Highly romantic, they found hidden meaning in the colors, shapes, and textures of the jewelry they wore.
As befitting an era called "Sentimental," love tokens, mementoes, and souvenirs were all the rage. Lockets were much-loved accessories and were made of every type of material. They often held painted miniatures or (in later years) small photographs, as well as locks of hair. (Lockets were sometimes worn under the clothing to protect the portrait or hair token from prying eyes.)
Brooches were extremely popular and were worn in a variety of ways by the Victorian woman. They were
worn on the shoulder, of course, but also at the neck, waist, in the hair, and on ribbons as necklaces and
bracelets and often in clusters. They were not all made of precious metals as the design was often as important as the material of which they were made. In addition to silver, gold, and base metals, enamels, Tortoiseshell, Mother-of-Pearl, and shell, and stone were used. Even a rock hard mud from volcanic lava was carved into cameos and intaglios and sold as souveniers from places such as Pompeii. Platinum and silver jewelry was not much used until the Edwardian years and almost all gold was yellow or rose gold.
Religious symbols were mainstays of jewelry design in both the Georgian and Victorian eras: crosses, ivy, doves, and Greek letters were some.
The snake surprisingly to us today was a very popular motif. Snakes in their coils, were symbols of eternity and of commitment. This was taken, from the Germanic/Scandinavian traditions rather than the Christian associations which
equate the snake or serpent with sneakiness and evil. Snakes wrapped around parts of the body as rings, bracelets, and necklaces. Brooches and watch fobs and stickpins showed the sinuous draping of serpents often holding or guarding a
pearl or other precious gem. Queen Victoria's engagement ring from Prince Albert was in the form of a serpent.
Both sentimentality and symbolism were important elements of Victorian design. Jewelry could be read like books, the design telling of the giver's feelings or hopes.
Examples of Symbolism:
Pearls = Tears
Fly = Humility
Dogs = Fidelity
Butterfly = Soul
Daisy = Innocence
Fern = Fascination
Mistletoe = A kiss
Doves = Domesticity
Bluebells = Constancy
Wishbone = Wish and Hope
Lilac = First feelings of Love
Harp/Ireland or Constant Love
Flaming Heart = Passionate Love
Forget Me Nots = Remembrance
Arrows = Love (Cupid's arrows)
Crowned Heart = Love Triumphant
Ivy = Friendship, fidelity, marriage
Clasped Hands = Friendship, Lasting Love
Salamanders, Lizards = Passionate Love (it was believed that this animal could survive fire)
Roses = Many meanings, depending of the type of bloom and color.
Specific gems could have specific meanings:
Amethyst = Devotion
Diamond = Constancy
Emerald = Hope
Ruby = Passion
Pearls = Tears
Gems could be used as a type of code to spell out words. The first letter of the gems' names would stand for letters. In this way, a piece set with a Diamond, Emerald, Amethyst, and Ruby (in that order) would spell the work "DEAR". Other examples of this "code" can be found spelling out: Fidelity, Gratitude, Ever Thine, Baby, Mother, and individual names. This practice went on in various countries, and languages - which can make deciphering the code tricky.
"MIZPAH", a word taken from the Bible, means, "The Lord watch over me and thee when we are parted one from the other." Today's collector can come across these pieces in a variety of materials and all forms of jewelry.
Fine jewelry in the Victorian era was more than just a show of wealth. It was intended to reflect the social standing and status of the wearer and their family. Rigid rules determined what jewelry was deemed "appropriate". In Europe, only the simplest of jewelry was worn by young, unmarried women - crosses, pearls, chains, and mourning jewelry. Married women "of a certain age" were the only ones thought suitable as wearers of diamonds and gems. American women, not being raised with these strict rules, were often criticized for wearing "inappropriate" jewelry when they visited Europe. In spite of such censure, rich American heiresses were in great demand as brides of impoverished European nobility - their dowries and rich jewelry making their fashion errors forgivable.
Victorian jewelry designers loved natural themes and flowers as did earlier generations. An interesting design innovation is a piece set en tremblant - a French word that means, "trembling". In jewelry of this sort part of the design is mounted on a spring - this way the jewelry has a twinkling effect, moving slightly as the wearer moves.
The Victorians were practical in their jewelry designs. As with the Georgian era, many pieces were made to come apart to form a myriad number of wearable items. A necklace could have a metal rod added, making it rigid and wearable as a tiara. A necklace could come apart to make bracelets and earrings. Early Victorian designs are generally small and delicate unlike the larger, heavier, and more ornate pieces made later.
Another fashion of the Victorian era (which some people find disturbing) is Hair Jewelry. Pieces of jewelry were made to incorporate locks of hair, as love tokens or as mementos from deceased loved ones. The hair is placed inside a crystal, sometimes just a curl, or weavings. Elaborate designs and pictures could be made out of hair or the hair, itself, was could be used to make chains, rings, earrings. Virtually every type of jewelry was made of hair, some very complex in the weaving techniques used.
In the early Victorian era, Diamonds and Pearls were rare and expensive, available only to the rich. But many alternatives were available to the middle class such as: Amethysts, Opals, Turquoise, and Freshwater Pearls.
Looking at gems or stones set into a piece of jewelry can be a major clue to determining a date. It's either a reproduction or a "married" piece" when you find one with a gem that's "wrong" for the time period.
Stones Commonly Found in Victorian Jewelry:
Agate
Diamond
Onyx
Glass
Carnelian
Emerald
Amber
Coral
Opal
Peridot
Ruby
Sapphire
Turquoise
Garnet
Pearls (seed, baroque, freshwater, natural, & blister)
Some materials Commonly Found in Victorian Jewelry:
Bog Oak Enamels
Cut Steel
Human Hair
Jet Ivory
Pinchbeck
Tortoiseshell
Micro-Mosaic (very small tiles)
Silver
Gold (9, 10 , 15, 18, 22 karats) Rolled Gold or Gold Filled
The stones utilized in the Victorian item can help date a piece of jewelry. Different gemstones such as
Ceylon Sapphires, and Alexandrites became available only in the late Victorian
period. The more highly faceted stones with 58 or more facets indicate a later
date and while the old table cut or rose cut diamonds or other stones with smaller
top surfaces and fewer facets suggest Georgian or early Victorian some were
made up to the mid Victorian era.
Glass can be found as original mountings and does not detract now or then from
the value of many old pieces. It could be carved, pearlized, faceted and
cabochon. A 10 power loupe will usually reveal the bubbles and cracks common
to glass. Highly refractive glass was available from Germany, Italy and
Czechoslovakia and became wide spread even in quality jewelry beginning from
the Georgian times and came into America with European women from the
1840s on. Even some of the fakes such as Soude emerald which used green
glue to provide green color to colored doublets help date the jewelry as coming
from this period.
Look at the fittings. Brooches with pins that fasten with C shaped clasps are
more likely to be nineteenth century or older. Tube or trombone clasps are later
1890s, and the safety clasp is 20th century. If the pin tip is visible from the front
of the pin it is usually a mid to late Victorian rather than Edwardian piece.
Earrings were short fishhooks until the dangle earring became popular in the
early Victorian years but as the dangles became popular in the early 40s the
wires became longer and thinner. Unfortunately these are rarely original. Screw
posts are also late Victorian, but screw backs did not appear until about 1907.
Some books on old jewelry show examples of old jewelry refitted with the newer screw
back. In the late 1840s the hair styles and bonnets covered the ears and a small disc
shaped ear ring on a post was found then and again in the 1890s the dangles were
less likely to be made for the same reason