Culture – Art of Mourning

1760-1800, Neoclassicism in Mourning Jewels

Engraved gold frame, ivory painted in watercolour with a miniature of a woman handing a heart pierced by an arrow to a figure of Death, surmounted by an inscription I ALONE CAN HEAL The back of plaited hair crossed by the name Fergusson on paper.

Facing the ideals of the Enlightenment and a new appreciation for classical history, the period between 1760 and 1800 created the underpinnings of identity in mourning and sentimentality that exist today. Politics and economics are the key supporters of popular thought; without an action or a reaction from a hierarchical body, there would be no message… Continue reading 1760-1800, Neoclassicism in Mourning Jewels

A Mourning Tour: In Memoriam / In Memory Of Rings, 19th Century

1827: "In Memory Of"

Black enamel bands are the most recognised of mourning jewels, being placed in very visible positions for others to see, easy and cheap to manufacture and all for the purpose of creating the wearer to be a walking tombstone for the person who is deceased. Their ability to be re-appropriated or kept by a family… Continue reading A Mourning Tour: In Memoriam / In Memory Of Rings, 19th Century

In Memoriam / In Memory Of Rings, 19th Century

Revisiting Gothic Revival in Culture and Jewellery: Part 2, c.1850-c.1900

With the seemingly ubiquitous and rather prominent rise of the Gothic Revival period, one must consider that the reaction to the Neoclassical period was. Should we postulate that there was an internal fear of further revolutions? Or perhaps the Napoleonic Wars had provoked an era of stability that grew from a period considered to bring… Continue reading *Revisiting* Gothic Revival in Culture and Jewellery: Part 2, c.1850-c.1900