Hayden Peters is a Jewellery Historian and Creative Director based in Melbourne, Australia.
A long time collector of mourning and sentimental jewellery, this site is a tribute to each piece and knowledge collected over time.
This blog is a balance between accessible for all ages and skewing towards the academic when necessary so that it’s very open. Hopefully this will demystify a lot of the pomp surrounding antique collecting and mourning/sentimental jewellery, while educating and being a lot of fun. There will be stories about collecting, publicising antique/collectable events and having themed mourning/sentimental days where different items are discussed.
The Art of Mourning official site (artofmourning.com) began in 2005 as a way to unify collectors from all around the world. Its growth and use as a resource is a testament to the passion of collectors everywhere.
Download the ABC Collectors interview below:
Link > Collectors Download Page
Link > Direct Segment (MP4) – WMV
or
Link >You can read an interview with me at Collectors Weekly here.
I’ve just been given a chapter on Mourning Jewellery in ‘Alan Carter’s Book of Collections in Australia First Edition – 2013′ – You can purchase a copy here!
Contact
If you would like to contact me, I can be reached via this email or on the Art of Mourning Twitter account.
If you would like to donate to Art of Mourning, please click the graphic below to take you to Paypal. Art of Mourning is strictly advertising free to maintain the focus of the site directly on memorial, mourning and sentimental art and objects.
Very nice information.
Hi, nice to meet you !
The pleasure is all mine!
I sometimes feel guilty about admiring the beauty of such grieving objects. But there is no doubt – they are lovely!
No reason to feel bad – these items are all made to honour the love between people and there’s nothing finer than that. Step back in time with these magnificent displays of history and art!
Hello, I’m from Melbourne too and have a collection of mourning jewelry that I have re-purposed into wearable pieces for today.
I reckon these treasures need to continue to be admired and cherished. I have quite a few pieces from the mid-late 1700s and am eargerly awaiting a silver French brooch with a sepia miniature. It will become a necklace.
I write about this at my blog http://vulticulus.wordpress.com
just use the search words ‘mourning’ or ‘georgian’.
That’s stunning Melanie! I would love it if you would like to write a piece about your re-appropriation of these jewels on Art of Mourning, I think there’s a lot to be learned through it. Well done on a brilliant venture of making the animate reanimate.
Congratulations Hayden on a truly wonderful site , I’m just getting my own together and will be styling up several ‘situations’ . I to am from Melbourne and would love you to take a look at my site .I’m also hoping to use all my own artwork to do so . It still needs content that will later back up the images , but that will come in time , regards Andrew Delaney http://annodominihome.blogspot.com/
Andrew, I had a look at your site and it’s magnificent! Is all that work yours?? You have a wonderful and singular talent, my friend, I’d love to commission something from you in the future.
Hi Hayden , I’ve been in a new little studio space in the Nicholas Builing in the city for about two months . Its really getting its own feel . If anything its starting to get a little crowded . Drop in next time you’re in town . second floor opp the lifts , kind reguards Andrew
Hi Andrew,
I don’t work too far away from there at all, so I’d love to pop by!
Hi there Hayden
So pleased to have discovered your site. I’ve lost a couple of hours reading bits and pieces and will certainly be back.
I was wondering if you could tell me what the typical size of a mourning card would have been?
Thanks
Thanks for the kind words, Kirsty! If I can at the very least bring some of these old pieces back to life through a bit of education, then I feel that my existence is justified.
As for a typical mourning card, they are generally around 9x14cm – much of this is at the mercy of standardised postage. That’s actually a very good question and opens up another area of discussion relating to ephemera and social development during the 19th and 20th centuries… hmm…
The new site looks splendid and the depth of information is stunning. It is a fascinating subject and it seems odd that so many people shy away from ‘the art of mourning’ when it is a touching and beautiful part of the lives of all of us. Keep up the good work!
Thank you Mike, I believe this is one of the most culturally important subjects in early-modern history and I will stop at nothing to facilitate the permeation of knowledge surrounding it! Please pass on the good word!
New site looks wonderful. I hope it is very successful for you!
Thank you, Katherine! There’s much more to come; I’ve got two years of memorial and sentimental knowledge to share (at least), so be prepared!
Hi Hayden
Just realised you are in Melbourne. If you acquired Roger Kelsall’s mourning ring locally then I probably know how it came to be here. I am researching Roger Kelsall Jnr who (I now know) was John Kelsall’s son. He was the First Royal Engineer to arrive in Australia, arriving in Tasmania 1836. He eventually settled in Geelong dying c 1861. I have also picked up a record of a court case involving his son and some controversy about the Estate. What drew me to your site was not only the name but the use of Latin. I believe Roger Kelsall drew certain drawing, which have the peculiar habit of substituting “U”s with a Latin “V”. I am wondering if this may not have been because Roger Jnr may have been initially home schooled in the Bahamas by his Latin-loving father? If you have any ideas on the subject I would be delighted to hear from you. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss. Your site has been a great help to me. Kindest regards Alison Joseph
P.s have lots of mourning cards etc from my only family’s archives!
Hi Alison,
I’m finding your research into the Kelsall family most intriguing!
I wish I could personally get involved with the discussion, however, it’s the wonderful Sarah Nehama (US based) that has been investing her time into the family history of the Kelsalls (she wrote and commented on those posts) – you can contact her through the Art of Mourning Facebook group if you like. I love some good discussion on these areas, I think they often discover a lot more than isolated research, especially now that the world is small enough to share our sources with the click of a button. So, I’m incredibly fascinated to find out where it leads. I think your research as to Roger Jnr’s use of lettering sounds correct; if you could scan the documents and share them, I’d love to take a peek.
Once we have a bit of grounding on the topic, I’d love for you to do a guest post on Art of Mourning, if you like! Thank you for the kind words on the site as well; it’s a topic that I’ve devoted half my life to and if I can spark a bit of interest in this magnificent facet of history, then I feel I’ve done my job.
Oh, and if you’d like to share those mourning cards, I’d more than love to see them! From your own family, no less? Gosh, it’s very rare in this day and age for things like that to pass through the family and quite sad that they get lost.
Regards,
Hayden
As I stand here, I have never started a historical look at mourning jewels. However, I have been fascinated by some gorgeous pieces my Mother has.
As I turned the page on my first foray into mourning jewels and you are writing to me, I have to say I was slightly stunned. It has to be ten billion to one. I am thoroughly enjoying your wonderful site, I was especially drawn to the My David ring, it is perfect. OK, my heart is back to normal so I will continue looking at these fantastic pieces.
Thank you,
Sincerely,
Allison
I sell vintage jewelry on Ruby Lane. You have written some wonderful informative articles. I hope you don’t mind that I share them…
Thank you! Absolutely, share what you like, I do what everything in the hope that it may generate someone else to be interested in this wonderful topic. If you have any items you want to advertise for sale, feel free to pop them on the Facebook group – I would be more than happy for that!
Hello, I have a Art Nouveau sterling silver hairbrush, it has a sleeping lady holding a book in one arm that has a arch design and a odd shape almost like an autoharp, looks Catholic in nature.
I believe that the lady is dead not sleeping and I felt it was commisioned for a surviving loved one. The brush came from Birmingham England, it has all the hallmarks, the lion, anchor, and a lower case e, I think the e was the year sometime around 1900 or earlier. and I have researched as much as I could find although it was exciting to read some of the articles and see public records of a silver smith that lived and worked in the 1800′s. The maker’s mark, W.G.K. name is William George Keight, which was americanised later to Knight I believe. Can you tell me anything about this “Mourning” piece? Is she just sleeping with a religious book under her arm?
Thanks in advance,
Amanda
Hi Amanda,
I’d love to have a look at it for you, if you want to email me any pictures, please feel free and I’ll give you my opinion!
Regards,
Hayden
Very lovely
Many thanks, Lilou!
Hi,
I have a Taille D’Epargne locket I believe to be Mourning/Sentimental. I don’t wear it much and am looking to send it to a good home. Do you know if anyone would be interested in it?
Hi Bethanie,
Try the Art of Mourning Facebook Group at https://www.facebook.com/artofmourning – there are a lot of interested people who you can connect with!
Regards,
Hayden
Such an excellent site – thank you! As a small scale collector and admirer of antique & mourning jewelry, I am pleased to have discovered a site devoted to the accouterments of mourning. Looking forward to seeing more. Best!
My pleasure and many thanks for the kind words!
~so much meaningful content~
I am pleased to have found this site.
Thank you, Beth!
i looooove it!!!
I absolutely love this site. I have a very small collection of mourning jewellery myself, only two pieces, but I am always looking out for more at antique shops and fairs. It’s very hard to find something though, and I haven’t spotted anything interesting the past couple of years.
One of the pieces that I have was used by my great great grandmother. Originally it was a rococo revival style brooch, but it was later made into a necklace and used by my grandmother in the 1950′s and 60′s. I sometimes wear it too and it looks very modern – especially in today’s fashion with statement necklaces. I have even had a few people ask me where I bought it, and they are very surprised to find out that it’s actually an antique.
Anyway, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us, I have lost myself more than once in this site and I check back at least once a week for something new to read!
You’re far too kind, Madeleine; thank you for kind words! And I hope you’re prepared for a lot more to come (currently, I’ve got articles back-dated 3 times a week to May 2013).
What a wonderful story about your grandmother’s brooch; if you’d like to share it on the Facebook page, I’d love to see it. To keep those jewels in the family is what it’s all about; I recall buying an entire family estate from 1760 to today just because the family didn’t want any of it (I begged her to reconsider). Bought it all under the condition that she left me the provenance and catalogued them all, so I’m just a caretaker.
Again, many thanks for the kind words!
This site goes from strength to strength – content and design are top knotch, Lord H.
You’re the greatest, Tom.
well I love 18th c funeral and mourning stuff..I have very early funeral sermons 1750s ..I have this scroll rings with the skeleton face and gold with the date and name of the dead..and I have a pendant painted ivory 18thc a lady sad by a tumbstone pointing at the sea and a ship at distance.. and they are both american colonial ..Im in connecticut…I dont feel bad to like such morbid beauty I respect them they are art !
Indeed, there’s nothing morbid at all about the celebration and rememberance of a life! The art is also a remarkable way of showing symbolism and sentiment to a loved one, regardless of the age. If you wish to send me the pendant pictures, please contact me at art_of_mourning@yahoo.com
Regards,
Hayden