ABOUT VICTORIAN JEWELRY

The Victorian era was of course given its name by Queen Victoria, who ascended to the throne of England at the age of 18 in 1837, and would rule the country that would become an Empire for the next 64 years. Although greatly sheltered in her childhood, the young Queen loved jewelry, and her influence on fashion and accessories can never be underestimated. We generally break the Victorian era into three major periods: the early or "romantic"; the middle or "grand"; and the late or "aesthetic" periods. While many styles came and went in and out of fashion, all can still be said to be Victorian. Jewelry of the Georgian era preceding it was largely conservative and entirely handmade. That changed drastically during the Victorian era. Jewelry became fashionable and affordable for everyone due to mechanical and technical advances made during the Industrial Revolution and both the spread of the British Empire and Commodore Perry's opening trade with Japan in 1854. The average middle class consumer could for the first time in history afford jewelry, and costume jewelry was born.

THE EARLY YEARS: "THE ROMANTIC PERIOD" (1837-1860): The Romantic Period was a time of happiness and joyous family life for the young Queen. On Feb 10th, 1840, only three years after taking the throne, Victoria married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Their relationship was one of great love and admiration. Together they bore nine children - four sons and five daughters: Victoria, Bertie, Alice, Alfred, Helena, Louise, Arthur, Leopold, and Beatrice. In 1848 Victoria and Albert bought a Scottish manor house called Balmoral in Scotland. Victoria loved Scotland and all things Scottish. The pride she felt of her Stuart ancestry and the popularity of Sir Walter Scott's novels made Scottish jewelry extremely popular, especially the Scottish agate. Materials were valued for their meaning and even endowed with supernatural powers. For instance, coral was considered to protect against evil and disease, warding away the "vapors", and adorned on children. Lockets were much-loved accessories and made of all types of material. They are rarely seen in period photographs because of the custom of wearing them under the clothing to keep them close to the heart. They often held locks of hair and photographs. Brooches were the most popular form of jewelry and made in a wide variety of ways and of a wide variety of materials. For most of this period, gold had not yet been found in California, Australia or South Africa and was in scarce supply. Following the Stamp Act of 1854, gold content was standardized at 9, 12, or 15 karats and required to be hallmarked. Non-gold metals used were either pinchbeck (83 parts copper and 17 parts zinc), mercury gilt or electric gilt. Also popular was silver backed by gold and rolled gold plate. Sentimentality and symbolism were important elements of early Victorian design. Intimate messages could be spelled out in jewelry if one knew the vocabulary. Gems could have specific meaning as well. Floral motifs were common and Greek figures from mythology were popular as well. Hair jewelry starts to become popular. Godey's Lady's Book endorsed the fashion of hair jewelry and made it easy to acquire. The following excerpt extolling the virtues of hairwork is from circa 1850: "Hair is at once the most delicate and last of our materials and survives us likelove. It is so light, so gentle, so escaping from the idea of death, that, with a lock of hair belonging to a child or friend we may almost look up to heaven and compare notes with angelic nature, may almost say, I have a piece of thee here, not unworthy of thy being now." Beginning in the 1850's through the 1900's, hairwork became a drawing room pastime. Godey's Lady's Book and Peterson's Magazine gave instructions and patterns for making brooches, cuff links, and bracelets at home. To further the craze for the homecraft, Godey's reminded readers that while mourning etiquette decreed that only jet jewelry was allowed for first mourning, for the second mourning, one could wear a brooch and bracelet made of hair with a gold and black enamel clasp. Even a watch chain or plain gold belt buckle was permissible for widowers to wear if made of hair or if it enclosed hair.

THE MIDDLE YEARS OR "GRAND PERIOD" 1860-1885:  The Mid-Victorian period saw light, delicate designs evolve into heavier, bolder and brighter pieces. The discovery of archeological sites in Italy brought examples of ancient jewelry that utilized small balls of metal individually clustered together. Called Etruscan, it became wildly popular. Day jewelry consisted of classical motifs made of small mosaics. Souvenir mosaics of a Grand Tour of Europe, as well as Pietra Dura mosaics were very popular. Cameos were very popular throughout the Victorian era and became larger and more ornate through the 1860's, the most common scene being "Rebecca at the Well", and usually depicted a girl and a bridge. Cameos could be carved in one color in black shell, onyx or lava, or molded from Vulcanite or horn. Truly the most dramatic events of this period and those that would influence the world were the death of Victoria's beloved husband, Prince Albert in 1861, and the outbreak of the American Civil War the same year that resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands. Mourning jewelry and clothing of the Mid-Victorian era followed a strict protocol. There were rules that regulated the length of time to wear black and exactly when color could be reintroduced into a person's wardrobe. Jewelry followed the same stringent rules. Whitby Jet was the material of choice for the Queen and the aristocracy, but onyx, French jet, Vulcanite, pressed horn, Gutta Percha and Bog Oak were commonly used for mourning because of their flat black appearance. After two years of full mourning (where one could only wear black clothing and jewelry), half-mourning colors such as gray, scarlet, mauve, lavender and purpose were allowed back into the wardrobe. Victoria set the standard for mourning, but took it a step further and wore widow's clothing for the remainder of her life.

THE LATE VICTORIAN OR "AESTHETIC PERIOD" 1885-1903:  By the 1880's, the opening of the American West and development of the Nevada silver mines reduced the cost of this precious metal and silver jewelry became affordable and popular. Birmingham, England , in particular produced prolific amounts of silver jewelry. Beautifully engraved bangle bracelets, intricate monograms, name brooches, sentimental lockets and other silver jewelry expressing sentimental themes reflect the sentimentalism that is late Victorian as it became affordable and available to the middle market. Art Deco and Art Nouveau jewelry from famous studios began to appear. Hair jewelry falls out of fashion and is considered "old fashioned". Bar brooches are seen on every ladies collar.

NOTES ON VICTORIAN BLACK JEWELRY

JET:  The finest Victorian black and mourning jewelry is made of Whitby Jet. While Jet is found in other places on the planet, the finest in the world comes from Whitby, England. Jet is a form of coal, not unlike lignite. Many craftsmen believe, after working both jet and amber, that the two are from similar sources. Jet is a mined substance, and made from trees that grew to great heights during the Jurassic Period, and then the sap from some of them flowed down the trunks and filled hollows nearby. Covered by earth, leaves and other debris, these seams of sap hardened through the hundreds of thousands of years until they were exposed as jet or amber. Jet has been treasured by humans since the Bronze Age, but it was the Victorians that treasured Jet so much that it virtually mined out in Whitby today. By the 1850's there were approximately 50 Jet workshops turning out jewelry, and by the 1870's over 1400 men were employed in Jet related trades in Whitby to the tune of over 100,000 Pounds a year. By today's value, that equates to an annual turnover in excess of three million pounds! There was even one Jet Shop exclusive to Her Majesty, Queen Victoria. Due to it's popularity and price, the demand quickly rose for imitation jet jewelry, and the technology of Industrial Revolution provided alternatives for the middle classes.

VULCANITE: The vulcanization of natural rubber with sulphur was discovered by Charles Goodyear in the USA about 1839 and patented in England in 1843 by Hancock and by Nelson Goodyear (brother of Charles) in the US in 1851. Most commonly black in color, it was used to make combs, buttons, vesta cases, jewelry, fountain pens, pipe stems, and was widely used as an electrical insulator. It can also be a reddish color. Most Vulcanite jewelry made during the mid to late Victorian period was English. Vulcanite jewelry was a popular alternative to Jet, and can be distinguished from it by its flat black color and the fact that pieces are always molded rather than carved, thus the work is far less detailed.

GUTTA PERCHA: Most Civil War reenactors today believe that all black jewelry not Jet is Gutta Percha. That is not the case. While it was used to make molded jewelry, it was never popular on the same scale as Vulcanite or Pressed Horn jewelry. The word Gutta-percha comes from "Getah Percha" in Malay, which translates as Percha Rubber. Westerners discovered the properties of gutta-percha late in 1842 and by 1854 it was used as insulating material for telegraph wires. By the mid-1800's, Gutta-percha was also used to make molded furniture. By far it's most popular use was as the "guttie" golf ball, which revolutionized the game. As a matter of trivia, Congressman Preston Brooks' cane that he used to beat Charles Sumner on the floor of the United States Senate was made of Gutta Percha.

PRESSED HORN: By far the most popular medium for molded black jewelry during the Victorian era was pressed horn. Sheffield, England was the center of the pressed horn industry, turning out by the millions such items as brooches, earrings, pendants, watch, snuff and tobacco boxes, buttons, combs, gun plates, pistol caps and revolver plates, umbrella, walking stick and parasol handles, buttons and combs. The London auctions of the day would offer one hundred and twenty tons of horn per sale, every ounce of which made its way to Sheffield!

BOG OAK: Bog oak is the term given to peat-impregnated woods such as oak, fir, pine and yew that have been buried in peat bogs, for as long as 10,000 years. It is typically Irish, and was popular during Victorian times, although more as souvenir pieces rather than mourning pieces.

FRENCH JET: Not to be outdone by the English, the French developed their own jet, known as "French Jet". In actuality, French jet is antique glass, which can be carved and faceted into beautiful pieces, but does not have the value of true Jet. "Austrian Jet" is black crystal. And "Bakelite Jet" is a manufactured resin which would become popular during the Flapper Era of the 1920's.