Antique Victorian Mourning Blonde Plaited Hair Enamel Locket Gold Brooch Pin

Description

Details
Excellent condition.
Fresh looking, soft wear is noticeable only on close inspection.
Gold plated setting has a bright patina with minor surface wear at the back of the piece.
No dents or imperfections to the shape or signs of repair.
Enameling is dense and vibrant without any chipping or surface wear.
Glass panel is gleaming with no chips or surface wear.
Clasp is secure and original.
Era                Victorian
Length           1 1/4
”
just under
Width             1
”
Mark              No mark
Weight           8 grams
Material         Tests for 10k gold plating, glass, human hair
Collector Note
Made by hand or in small groups of similar styles, vintage jewelry is individualistic with its own special history.
Striking example of mourning jewelry, rectangular silhoutte (rather than oval) is a unique feature.
Locket panel at the center is nicely sized with blonde hair carefully braided and has remained intact.
Excellent condition showcases the design detail and quality of construction.
BackStory
O
n Mourning Jewelry.
Mourning jewelry from the Georgian and Victorian eras were special, custom pieces designed in the memory of a deceased loved one. While many mourning pieces used dark materials like natural onyx or jet to convey grief, they were often surprisingly hopeful, as the majority of the western world believed they would one day be reunited with their loved one in the afterlife. Pieces incorporated symbols that represented this hope or the characteristics of their loved one, as well as locks of hair or small portraits. Today, collecting and wearing antique mourning jewelry is to honor the memory of a real person and appreciate the sentimentality of a bygone era.
On Victorian.
A young Queen Victoria assumed her role in 1837 and her taste in jewelry quickly became culturally influential, within England and beyond. Her relationship to jewelry was enmeshed with her husband, Prince Albert, who gifted the Queen for their engagement, a snake ring, embedded with an emerald (her birthstone) in its head. Continuing from the Georgian era and intensified by Queen Victoria
’
s
taste, sentimental and figural jewelry was a major trend throughout the Victorian era. When certain ideas and words were deemed too forward or improper to be spoken, jewelry and symbolic meaning was used to communicate what was left unsaid.
Ship Service
Beautifully wrapped and carefully shipped in boxes,
your jewels
will arrive safely.
We combine multiple treasures into one safe bundle for the same ship price.
See eBay’s shipping details for our current domestic and international rates.
_gsrx_vers_1292 (GS 8.3.6 (1292))