Ancient Sounds

Victorian Jet Brooch with a Shell Cameo Depicting an Aulos Playing Putto, ca. 1880

€ 269.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Victorian Jet Brooch with a Shell Cameo Depicting an Aulos Playing Putto, ca. 1880

Description

This description was automatically translated from German. If you have any questions about this piece of jewellery, we will be happy to help!

Victorian England was infatuated with gem ornaments. Unlike earlier eras, when cameos were kept in locked cabinets and delighted only the collector, they were now meant to be worn and admired by all as transportable works of art. Particularly prized were cameos with mythological motifs, made mainly on the Bay of Naples. English travelers who visited Italy in the course of the Grand Tour were the first to bring home these quality carved cameos as souvenirs; later, the carved cameos were imported directly by British merchants and set into jewelry on site. The present brooch, dating from around 1880, is such a piece. Cut from two-tone shell, the oval cameo presents a winged putto playing the aulos. According to legend, this ancient double-reed flute was invented by the goddess Athena. This piece is probably a mourning ornament, as the aulos was played at funerals in ancient times and is therefore often depicted in Etruscan tombs. The frame of deep black whitby jett, which surrounds the cameo, also speaks for the mourning context. In England of the Victorian era, mourning times were strictly regulated and so were the rules for mourning clothing and mourning jewelry. Thus, black jewelry like ours belonged to the black dresses of ladies who had to mourn the loss of a loved one. Today, detached from convention and regulations, the brooch can be used as a decorative accessory even without sadness!

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Jett, gagat or "black amber" is a special form of fossilized coal, which was used as jewellery in prehistoric times because of its unique luster and easy carving. Already the Romans made jewellery and amulets from this material; from the Middle Ages onwards it was used in Europe for mourning jewellery and rosaries. At the end of the 19th century, at the height of the jet fashion, jet was used mainly for jewelry. Because of its light weight, the material offered the possibility of making even large pieces of jewelry from it, as was the fashion of the time. The main deposit of a particularly high-quality jett at that time was on the English north coast near the fishing village of Whitby. From here, jewelry made of jett made its way to all of Europe. Through the World's Fair of 1851 in London, carvings from jet then became known worldwide, and after Queen Victoria had forbidden the wearing of jewellery (with the exception of jet) at the English court after the death of the Prince Consort in 1861, jet was considered mourning jewellery for a long time, until it became a fixed part of fashion, which could be worn without displaying mourning.

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Size & Details

Ancient Sounds

€ 269.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

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