Victorian jewellery was very well represented

at Fellows in May. The choice included Scottish

agate pieces, cameos, lockets, momento and

sentimental items. There was also a selection of

decorative jewellery in gold or silver, set with

gems or carved from ivory, jet, jade and coral.

Agate and other hardstone jewellery was a

favourite of the Victorians and was made in

Scotland using locally found stones. Bands of

coloured agate, carnelian or bloodstone would

be set, usually in silver, in traditional shapes

such as an anchor or shield, or might encircle a

cut stone such as smokey quartz. Jewellers in

Edinburgh would obtain their materials from

Usan near Montrose, Kinnoull Hill near Perth,

the Campsie Hills north of Glasgow and the

island of Rhum. So popular were these pieces

that by 1870 it was estimated that the number of

people working in agates in Scotland was about

two thousand. Although this type of jewellery

fell out of favour by the First World War there

has recently been a revival with collectors from

all over Europe and the United States. Pieces

with a strong design of stones and settings

achieve the highest prices, such as Fig 1, a

Scottish silver agate anchor brooch made in the

late nineteenth century which made £130 and

Fig 2 a traditional Scottish dirk brooch at £200.

The latter reflected the Victorian romanticism of

the Scottish Highlands and an increase in

tourists to the area, which saw traditional

Scottish shapes such as the circular plaid

brooch, used since the iron age to fasten shawls,

becoming popular souvenirs. A group lot in the

sale at Fig 3, which raised more than twice its

high end estimate at £180, included several with

Scottish motifs such as thistles, penannular and

annular (closed and open ring) brooches.

It was souvenirs again that inspired another

form of popular Victorian jewellery. Tourists

returning from Rome, most likely on one of the

new ‘Cook’s Tours’ satisfied their appetite for

classical art by reviving the ancient tradition

widely used in Rome and Greece, of carving

cameos. Originally, cameos were carved in hard

or semi precious stone, however, hardstone took

longer to carve and was expensive, so the

popularity of shell cameos rose as engravers

kept up with the demand from tourists flocking

to Rome, and from those back home in Britain

who were clamouring for cameos. Shell was

softer and easier to carve and cameos could be

produced more quickly and cheaply. In the mid

nineteenth century a shell cameo was likely to

cost around £1-£8 compared to a hardstone

cameo at £5-£40. Victorian cameo jewellery was

most often set into gold mounts with closed or

open backs. The more elaborate the setting, the

more expensive the cameo, then as now. Values

for a shell cameo in the Fellows sale reached

£500, Fig 4, for a cameo brooch mounted in an

elaborate 18ct gold surround with blue enamel

and bow details. The hammer fell on other shell

cameo brooches for less than £150. The sale

included some lava cameo items with values of

less than £200 which represents a decline over

the last four years. See Fig 5, £190.

Another choice of souvenir that made its way

into popular jewellery pieces was carved ivory.

Subjects included classical Roman motifs such

as putti, after the celestial cherubs included in

Raphael’s painting of 1512 or ‘The Doves of

Pliny’ a mosaic discovered in 1737 at Hadrian’s

Villa near Rome. Flowers were fashionable

subjects for carved ivory jewellery. A group of

five brooches in the sale at Fig 6 included all of

these motifs, £170.

Jewellery made from jet became fashionable

after Queen Victoria wore Whitby jet as part of

her mourning dress after the death of Prince

Albert. However, jet was not merely chosen for

mourning jewellery as black became a stylish

colour and expensive jet pieces became

fashionable status symbols. The sale included

groups of jet jewellery including Fig 7, a

selection of mainly jet jewellery at £75.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

death was commonplace and it was important

that the dead were not forgotten, hence the two

year mourning period. This was largely carried

out by women so jewellery became an obvious

way to remember. For collectors, memorial

items that can be identified are more desirable.

Thus a George III gold and enamel memorial

ring with an oval-shape panel depicting a white

enamel urn with a glazed hair panel in the

centre and a gilt weeping willow, which also has

a personal inscription dated 1807, contained

features and symbolism which pushed it to the

top of the range and above its pre-sale estimate

36 ANTIQUES INFO - September/October 14

Fig 1. A late 19thC Scottish silveragate anchor brooch, the shapedvarious agates forming an anchor,with rope-twist detail. £130.

Victorian Vintage Jewellery

and Accesories at FellowsBy Zita Thornton

Fig 3. A selection of Scottish jewellery, to include ahardstone rectangular panel bracelet and twelvebrooches, four brooches of thistle design, ten withmarks to indicate silver. £180.

Fig 5. A lava cameo bracelet, designed as a seriesof oval-shape vari-shade cameos depicting variousprofiles of gentlemen in period dress, some withlaurel details. £190.

Fig 2. A late 19thC Scottish dirk brooch, with threetiered hardstone and smokey quartz panels, to thefaceted smokey quartz terminal, with engraveddetail. £200.

Fig 4. A mid 19thC 18ct gold shellcameo and enamel brooch, the oval-shape cameo carved to depictTerpsichore and Cupid, in anallegorical scene, to the snake-linksurround with blue enamel bowdetail. £500.

Fig 6. A selection of five ivorybrooches, to include a late 19thCcarved openwork brooch, depictingthe Doves of Pliny, an oval cameobrooch depicting a putto, togetherwith three further brooches. £170.

when the hammer fell at £320, Fig 8. More

subtle symbolism was included on an early

Victorian gold memento mori brooch, the

porcelain panel painted to depict a maiden with

an anchor and a dove, meaning hoping for

peace in the after life with the initials ‘EM’

inscribed to the reverse. This item raised £220,

Fig 9.

A close relative of mourning jewellery is

sentimental jewellery. These pieces exchanged

between loved ones were steeped in symbolism

which would have been instantly understood by

the Victorians. A hand, carved in coral or ivory

represented love or friendship. A serpent with

its tail in its mouth stood for eternity. Queen

Victoria’s own betrothal ring was a serpent

studded with emeralds. Hair was not only

included in jewellery to remember the dead but

also the living. The initial letter of different

coloured jewels spelled out messages. A good

example of sentimental jewellery was included

in the sale in the form of an enamelled heart

pendant displaying a diamond set forget-me-not

with a glazed panel to the reverse, Fig 10,

£340. A Victorian heart-shaped sapphire and

moonstone pendant brooch with an enamelled

border of small flowers, with a photograph to

the reverse raised £480. The desire to keep a

person’s photograph close to the heart in this

way made lockets popular. Their ability to be

closed and secret added to their mystery and

allure. A jet locket with a carved monogram

opening to reveal both a photograph and hair

panel raised £85 in the sale. Late Victorian

silver lockets raised £55-£110, Fig 11, £85, and

a group of eight 9ct gold decorated heart and

oval shaped lockets, some on chains raised a

reasonable £150.

The Victorians wore coral for good luck and

although fruit and flowers were fashionable

choices coral was included in sentimental or

memorial pieces too. An astonishing result was

achieved for a coral coiled serpent bangle when

the hammer came down at £780 over a £60-£90

estimate, Fig 12. Another lot, Fig 13, also did

better than expected when each coral bead

forming a brooch was accented with a

diamond, £920. A pair of matching earrings

achieved £380.

Stick pins became a fashionable accessory

for men from the late eighteenth century as a

means of securing voluminous neckwear. The

designs became fancier as the centuries passed

by including gems and novelty carvings with

those depicting ‘country pursuits’ such as a

fox’s head or horse’s hoof by the mid

nineteenth century. After the death of Queen

Victoria stick pins became more restrained and

other stones such as turquoise and opals were

included in designs. The fashion for a knotted

necktie saw the demise of the stick pin by the

First World War. Fig 14 shows a group of gem

set stickpins, £75 and Fig 15, the later fashion

using turquoise, £80.

www.fellows.co.uk

ANTIQUES INFO - September/October 14 37

Photos courtesy of Fellows Auctions.

All prices hammer.

Fig 7. A selection of late19thC jewellery, to includemainly jet, a sardonyxcabochon brooch, a circularbuckle design brooch, acarved jet brooch depictingedelweiss and an edelweissdesign locket. (9). £75.

Fig 8. A George III gold andenamel memorial ring, theoval-shape panel depicting awhite enamel urn with glazedhair panel centre, to the blackenamel and gilt weepingwillow surround andopenwork band. Personalinscription dated 1807. £320.

Fig 10. An early 19thC golddiamond and enamel senti-mental heart pendant, thediamond point forget-me-not,to the blue enamel heart-shape pendant, with glazedpanel reverse. £340.

Fig 12. A mid 19thC coralserpent bangle, of coileddesign, the carved serpenthead, to the cylindricalstylised scales and texturedtail terminal. Coral untestedfor natural colour origin.£780.

Fig 14. A selection of fourlate 19th century gold gem-setstickpins, to include a garnetcluster stickpin, a 15ct goldruby accent stickpin, togetherwith two seed pearl anddiamond point accent knotpins. £75.

Fig 9. An early Victorian goldmemento mori brooch, ofmarquise-shape outline, theporcelain panel painted todepict a maiden with ananchor and a dove, meaninghoping for peace in the afterlife, within a gold mount,‘EM’ initial inscription to thereverse. £220.

Fig 11. A late Victorian silverlocket, of oval outline, withengraved and raised ruralscene with tree, fence andgolden bird in flight. Personalengraving to reverse.Hallmarks for Birmingham,1880. £85.

Fig 13. A late 19thC conti-nental coral and diamondbrooch, designed as a tieredcoral panel, each coral beadwith rose-cut diamond accent,with further rose-cut diamondtrefoil detail, suspending threesimilarly-designed tassels.Coral untested for naturalcolour origin. £920.

Fig 15. An early 20thC goldturquoise and diamond stickpin, designed as an ovalturquoise cabochon and old-cut diamond accent fruitingmotif. £80.

36 ANTIQUES INFO - January/February 13

TextilesContinued from overleaf

ANTIQUES INFO - November/December 12 37

Jewellery

ANTIQUES INFO - September/October 11 41

Silver

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10 ANTIQUES INFO - January/February 11

10 ANTIQUES INFO - January/February 11

10 ANTIQUES INFO - January/February 11