Stouffville Free Press

Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone.

While diamonds might be a woman’s best friend a fellow still can’t go wrong with a nice broach or locket.

This is a pretty little group of jewellery that would suit many tastes. From the top and going clockwise we have a mourning jewellery locket, a 9 carat gold and Malachite broach, a Victorian sterling silver locket and a sterling Cameo.

Mourning pieces were popular during the Georgian and Victorian periods. These were pieces of art or jewellery that were created out of, or used to contain, pieces of hair and other mementos belonging to departed loved ones. This piece is a gold filled locket inlaid with black enamel and probably contained a lock of hair.

The second item is a Malachite broach set in 9 carat gold. Malachite is a semi-precious stone that is regularly used in rings and broaches because of its attractive look when properly cut and polished. The setting is a simple yet effective design.  While 9 carat gold is the lowest carat recognized by international standards, most jewellery today uses 10 carat. In 1932 both 15 and 12 carat gold were discontinued and a new standard of 14 carat was introduced.

At the bottom is a lovely Victorian sterling silver locket. It was made in Britain and has all of the great hallmarks that allow one to date the piece. It has the “Lion Passant” that means it is made of sterling silver. It has an anchor which tells us it was marked in Birmingham and finally it has a dating letter that denotes the year it was made, which is 1882. The front of the locket has a nice engraving of a flower, while the back is engraved with a full bouquet of flowers. It also contains two rings of silver that would allow the owner to fit a picture in each side. Given the date of manufacture these would have been hand painted miniatures.

And finally we have a great Cameo. A cameo is a portrait or scene carved in relief and has been made from shell, as is this one, for over two hundred years. During the Victorian Era (1837-1901) cameos became very popular and as shell was inexpensive, abundant and easily carved, it was the material most often used. Motifs were greatly influenced by classical and mythological figures and stories. The most popular motif was and remains the portrait of a woman. Carvers could fashion the ‘ideal woman’ easily and quickly and these examples sold well as tourist pieces.

This cameo is carved from a rather irregular piece of shell. This has allowed the artisan a great depth of field for his carving. Typically the women are young and beautiful while the woman depicted here is of a mature age which could indicate that it was a commissioned piece rather that a generic tourist example. The long Roman nose and laurels and roses adorning her, as well as the hair style, also suggest that it could date from the mid-Victorian period and while well carved, the simple silver setting indicates this was not a piece of high style jewellery, but more suited to a woman of the new middle class.

While the price for these lockets and broaches ranges from $50 to over $200, any of them would make a nice gift for a loved one… Happy Valentine!

I welcome inquiries about any objects and look forward to seeing and perhaps writing about them. Please forward a photo and a description to me through Stouffville Free Press or drop the material off at Reid’s Antiques, 6397 Main St. Stouffville during regular business hours or via my website at reidsantiques.com.