THE VICTORIAN ERA A Little Bit of Everything     A good starting point, when exploring the world of antique jewelry,  is the reign Queen Victoria (1837-1901). The Victorian Era , spanning the last two  thirds of the 19th century, was a time of epic romances, great tragedies and unprecedented  prosperity. The jewels of the Victorian Era reflected these ever changing fortunes and are  best studied as three periods: the Romantic, the Grand and the Aesthetic. The Romantic Period (1837-1860) began with Queen Victoria's ascension to the throne. In  1840, Victoria married Prince Albert and their love and complete devotion became the  impetus for the Romantic era. Since the supply of gold was limited at this time, the  jewelry of the period is characterized by light, open gold work using the techniques of  filigree, piercing, cannetille and repousse. Many pieces were also fabricated from thin  plates or sheets of gold that were produced in a die roll, then chased and engraved. The  use of these techniques (filigree, cannetille, chasing and repousse, die rolling and  engraving) gave the illusion of mass and size, while only using a minimum amount of  precious metal. Gold plates were soldered to the back of the piece for support and the  jewels were often accented with seed pearls, turquoise and pink coral. Other gemstones  used in the jewelry of this period include blue zircon, "pinked" topaz (heat  treated), amethyst, peridot, citrine, aquamarine, garnet, ruby, sapphire and emerald.  Natural materials such as tortoise shell, lava, jet, gutta percha, bog oak, ivory and  vulcanite were also popular, especially for carved pieces and cameos. Common motifs were  serpents, a symbol of eternity, and sentimental lockets encasing a lock of hair from a  loved one. Other sentimental themes included love and song birds, love knots, clasped  hands, hair jewelry, Mizpah and miniatures. Often a jewel displaying these sentimental  motifs would contain a hidden message. For example, a    brooch with a honeybee and a crescent moon could  represent the word "honeymoon" and would possibly be a gift from a husband to  his new bride on their wedding night. The braiding or plaiting of hair for jewelry was a technique  passed down through the family from mother to daughter. Intricately woven hair would be  fashioned into bracelets, earrings and brooches with gold fittings, while simple locks of  hair could be enclosed within the glazed compartment of a hair locket. Hair jewelry was  used for both Memorial (mourning of a deceased loved one) and Sentimental (remembrance of  a living, but distant friend or loved one) gifts. Queen Victoria also established a strict etiquette for daytime dress  and evening wear, including the types of gems and jewelry that could be worn at court.  Diamonds were only to be worn with evening wear, and only by married women, because  diamonds were the customary gift from a man to his wife. If an unmarried woman appeared in  court with diamonds, she either inherited them or they were assumed to be a gift from a  lover. The display of inherited wealth was considered vulgar during this period and since  all unmarried women were supposed to be pure, the wearing of diamonds from a lover was  socially unacceptable! With this strict protocol in mind, daytime wear was typically more  diminutive, simpler and contained fewer stones, while jewels for high court and evening  events displayed diamonds and colored gemstones in more elaborate designs and forms. Early Victorian lifestyles and design were also greatly influenced  by the First International Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in 1851 at London. During this  magnificent fair, the public viewed and experienced the numerous technological advances of  many nations worldwide. Throughout the great halls of the Crystal Palace were spectacular  displays of jewelry, decorative arts, fabrics and ceramics from all over the world.   The Victorian people were enamored with flowers and especially with  the symbolic meaning attached to various flowers, as defined in the book, "The  Language of Flowers". Often the jewelry of the early Victorian period depicted  flowers which carried special meanings. Among these were Forget-Me-Nots symbolizing True  Love, Ivy for Fidelity, Lily-of-the-Valley representing Sweetness, Acorns for Life and  Immortality, Pansies representing Thought, Petunias for Anger, Yellow Poppy for Wealth and  Success, The Sweetpea for Good-bye, Violets signifying Modesty, and Mixed Zinnias  representing Thinking of an Absent Friend. Early Victorians also enjoyed jewelry with other hidden  meanings, such as acrostic bracelets where the first letter of each gemstone spelled a  word of friendship or other special significance (for example, a bracelet set with a Ruby,  Emerald, Garnet, Amethyst, Ruby and Diamond spelled out the message "REGARD"). Queen Victoria's purchase of the Scottish castle, Balmoral, in 1848, generated renewed  interest in Scottish pebble jewelry featuring ancient Celtic motifs. Pebble jewelry  consisted of gold or silver designs ornately engraved and inlaid with polished agates,  jaspers and granites from the Scottish Highlands. Some Scottish pieces also featured large  smokey quartzes from the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland. Motifs included garter buckles,  thistles, the Luckenbooth, anchors, arrows, hatchets and knots. In 1861, the Romantic  Period abruptly came to an end with the death of Victoria's beloved husband, Albert,  thrusting Victoria and her more loyal subjects into deep mourning for 27 years! (These  folks obviously needed some serious bereavement counseling!) The jewelry of this period  was somber and more austere in design. Heavy, dark stones (onyx, jet, amethyst and deep  red garnets) were set in gold jewels with black enamel tracery. Coinciding with this  lengthy mourning period was the Grand Period, so called because of the grand way in which  gems, jewelry and metals were used. During this period, gold was discovered in America  (1849) and Australia (1852), greatly increasing availability of this precious metal to  jewelry designers.   With the increased availability of gold came a  resurgence of ancient gold-working techniques and designs. Discoveries of ancient  civilizations and tombs ushered in a revival of Etruscan, Egyptian, Classical,  Architectural and Renaissance styles. The lost ancient Etruscan art of granulation was  studied and mastered by the Castellani's, Giacinto Mellilo and John Brogden, while  Giuliano excelled at creating enameled pieces in the colorful Renaissance and Holbeinesque  styles. English families often traveled to Europe for The Grand Tour and while visiting  famous landmarks, they purchased mementos and souvenirs of their trip. Cameos from Naples,  Pietra Dura (hard stone inlay mosaics) from Florence and micromosaics from Rome (in  particular, the Vatican Workshop), were brought home and set by local jewelers. These  souvenirs of the Grand Tour often depicted scenes of the famous ruins and monuments (the  St. Peter's Square, the Coliseum, etc.) as well as mythological themes (Diana, Hebe,  Psyche) and historical figures (Plato, Magellan, Caesar). Along with increased travel during this time, there was a growing  interest in sports and jewelry depicting sporting themes. Men and women alike pursued this  interest in sporting subjects. Reverse-painted intaglio crystals (also commonly called  Cook's crystals) displayed hunting themes, horses, foxes, dogs, pheasant and rabbits and  were incorporated into many forms of jewelry, including buttons, stickpins, brooches,  pendants, cufflinks and watch fobs. Three other important events greatly influenced the culture and  jewelry design of the Middle Victorian Period. In 1859 construction of the Suez canal began and for the next ten years the newspapers were almost exclusively devoted to stories  on the canal's progress along with pictures of Egyptian scenery and architecture. You could say that the Suez canal was one of the major media  events of the Victorian era. The continual coverage of the canal and Egyptian themes  quickly inspired jewelry designers, architects and artists.    Stylized  palmettes, lotus flowers and scarabs were a central design element in Egyptian Revival  pieces which incorporated enamels, gemstone inlays and twisted-wire rope-like borders. Another tremendous influence on Victorian design, and perhaps the  most significant, was the opening of trade relations with Japan in 1853. By the  1860's numerous examples of Japanese craftsmanship inundated the English community and  soon the "Japonaisse" style was incorporated into every form of design from  jewelry, clothing and fabric to paintings, furniture, decorative arts and even  architecture. Well into the next century, Japanese motifs - stylized fans, naturalistic  themes (flowers, cattail weeds), dragons and insects - were expressed in jewelry using the  ancient Japanese enameling and metal inlay techniques of Shakudo, Shibuichi and Satsuma. A third important catalyst of this time developed when Victoria was  crowned Empress of India (1876), thereby encouraging trade between the two  continents. The profusion of Indian imports included exotic woods, brightly colored silks,  enameled pieces and gem encrusted Moghul jewelry, all of which quickly influenced the  jewelry and decorative arts produced in England. Rose-cut garnet encrusted jewels and  cloisonné enamels patterned after Indian fashions quickly worked their way into the  English design lexicon. The late Victorian Period, known as the Aesthetic Period or Movement (1880-1901) was a  direct response to the over indulgent fashions and to the stuffy formality and strict  protocol of the Grand Period. And after 27 years of mourning, even the staid Victorians  had lamented enough. During the Aesthetic Period a sense of fun and light heartedness  returned to jewelry. Whimsical motifs such as griffins and dragons, crescent moons and  stars, butterflies and salamanders, were crafted into jewels of astounding beauty. Diamonds, from  mines recently discovered in South Africa, added a sparkle and luminescence to jewelry  which contrasted with the dark, somber tones of the Mourning period. The invention of  electricity and the light bulb along with Victoria's Diamond Jubilee anniversary (1897)  encouraged the growing use of the newly discovered diamonds from the "Dark  Continent". Although Queen Victoria still influenced fashion among her more  conservative subjects, her daughter-in-law, Princess Alexandra, became the celebrated  dignitary around whom fashion styles followed. Princess Alexandra was to the late  Victorian period what Princess Diana has been to the 1980's and 1990's English culture. It  is during this time that Alexandra popularized the star and crescent motifs common to  Aesthetic period jewels, often encrusted with diamonds, coral, pearls, turquoise and/or  sapphires. Alexandra is also known for favoring the dog collar necklace which became a  mainstay of a later era in jewelry history and design, The Edwardian Period. During the Aesthetic Period artistic merit was valued above  preciousness and intrinsic value; jewelry designers often placed more emphasis on the  quality of craftsmanship and single gemstones, rather than overly ostentatious displays of  multiple gemstones in mass-produced pieces. Polychromatic enamels and colored gemstones  created a livelier mood in the jewelry and many stones were chosen for their expressive  nature, rather than their monetary value. Sterling silver jewelry made in Birmingham also  became quite popular, especially those items depicting novelty themes such as circus  characters, boats, insects, sporting scenes (bicycling, horseback riding, tennis), hunting  animals (spaniels, rabbits, foxes) and Japanese fans. When studying jewelry history, it is helpful to also study the  clothing and hair fashions of the time. For example, during this late Victorian Period,  hats became very popular. In fact, hats became much larger and more ostentatious than ever  before, often decorated with large feathers, plumes and real birds (stuffed, of course).  With this increased use of large, heavy hats, came the need for longer hat pins to hold  these enormous head ornaments in place! We could go on and on about the Victorian Period,  especially since it was such a long and significant period in jewelry history; but then  again, you may want to do some discovering on your own. Perhaps an excursion to the Newark  Museum in New Jersey, or the Metropolitan in New York City could assist you in your  learning. Lovers of antiques inevitably become collectors of books about  antiques and the same is true for lovers of antique jewelry. Two of our favorite books on  Victorian jewelry are Victorian Jewelry - Unexplored Treasures by Ginny Dawes &  Corinne Davidov and Antique and 20th Century Jewellery by Vivienne Becker.