Juliette Recamier by Jacques Louis David, a lady who only ever wore pearls

English architect and artist James “Athenian” Stuart literally walked from England to Athens in 1719 to learn Latin, Greek and to study Italian and ancient Roman art and architecture. During his journey he met nobleman, amateur architect and artist Nicolas Revett, who was on his Grand Tour of the Continent. They returned to England together. Sponsored by the London Society of Dilettanti, a convivial dining society that by the middle of the eighteenth century had gained an influential hold in cultural matters, they traveled back to Greece with others to draw and record its ruins.

Returning to England in 1755 they published their findings in the ground breaking Antiquities of Athens, which was produced in five lavishly illustrated folio volumes from 1761 – 1816. This pioneering work’s influence was central to the establishment of the Greek revival (Neo-classical) style, which became a dominant force in architecture influencing the decorative, performance arts and high society in France, England and America. Everything about Ancient Greece was aligned with everything considered fine and fashionable and its influence would have a profound effect well into the 20th century.

Juliette Recamier and her fabulous baroque pearl earrings

Following the Revolution in France (1789–1799) fashions all over Europe changed from flounces and frills, to simple styles inspired by the classical costume on the much admired sculptures from Ancient Greece. The very beautiful Mme Recamier, the wife of a prominent banker favoured a form of dress made from flimsy materials that was often worn wet to imitate the costume on Greek classical statues. She used to greet visitors to her home in muslin classical array with bare feet and flowers in her hair. She would invite them to come and view her boudoir, which became the most famous bedroom in Paris in the neoclassical style. It would be hard to imagine anyone refusing Juliette Recamier considered one of the great beauties of the day and renowned for always wearing pearls, never diamonds.

Many cultures revere the pearl. For the ancient Greeks they were a symbol of love and marriage. Muslims enclose the faithful in Paradise within a pearl. Christians believed the pearl represented knowledge and truth and should not to be cast heedlessly before those not worthy.  In short, at least for a time pearls became a metaphor for rarity, purity and virtue.

Jewellery was seldom worn, following the revolution in France, apart from pendants of cruciform design set with semi precious stones. In various forms the Maltese Cross was the badge of many well-known orders, including the British Victoria Cross and Order of Merit, as well as the German Iron Cross.

The Maltese Cross was a symbol of the Knights of St John, given to those who had demonstrated acts of valour. The beautiful cross depicted is made from Carnelian, a gemstone much admired and used by Roman women in their jewellery during the first century.

Despite its ups and downs the Church in England was always a stronghold for man in times of material and spiritual trouble. Its tower was a lookout and its bell rang out the news whether good, or bad . In 1760 George III had come to the throne and though noble was not fashionable, but intensely  pious. He set an example for those who considered themselves of good breeding and by the end of the century they were nearly scared to death and back into church by the French Revolution.

His reputed madness did not help and there was many other factors that led to a groundswell for a return to religion in England. This revival of the desire to become serious Christians ultimately led to the so-called Oxford Movement (1833-1845) and restoration of the practices of the Church Catholic in England.

Emma, Lady Hamilton, Dame of Malta by Johann Heinrich Schmidt

The Reign of Terror confirmed everyone’s belief that atheism and a total disregard for the rights of property had led to such an appalling state of affairs in France. So it is not altogether a surprise that something like the Maltese cross would become popular as a piece of jewellery at this time, especially when it was awarded to Lady Emma Hamilton who was the mistress of Admiral Horatio Nelson.

Emma was acknowledged by all the most powerful people in the land to be not only very beautiful but also a determined strong minded woman and she used her liaison and ability to mix in high society well. It enabled her to send food and money to the starving people of the island of Malta.

The Latin Cross can be found on coins, monuments and medals. It was a pagan symbol for millennia before the foundation of the Christian Church. It also became popular at this time carried by more people than any other religious talisman.

In Scandinavia this style of cross was considered magical known for bringing good luck and diverting evil. Depictions have been found on Bronze Age stones being used as a destructive hammer by Thor, the God of Thunder and War. It was also considered a symbol of the earth, its points representing north, south east and west and has been found as far apart as in China and Africa.

Rock carvings with images of the cross have been interpreted as a solar symbol and alchemists throughout the centuries believed it represented air, earth, fire and water. Others believed it symbolised health, fertility, life and immortality or the union of heaven and earth, spirit and matter and the sun and stars.

Elizabeth Bennett wearing a modest cross as proof of her virt

A Topaz Cross

During the revolution in France some aristocrats managed to escape to other countries, including England where Christian ladies of innate sense and sensibility, such as Jane and Cassandra Austen favoured wearing the cross.

Jane Austen’s brother bought topaz crosses for his sisters going without to give them to them. Topaz is much more precious than citrine another gemstone, which it is often mistaken for. The best quality has a lively characteristic suffused with peach hues, much like the example here.

Sacrifice for love is entirely in keeping with a Christian understanding of perfect love, which makes no demands and seeks nothing for itself. This characteristic abounds in so many of the people in Jane Austen’s life and novels.

It was entirely appropriate Elizabeth Bennett would be wearing a cross when she first met enigmatic hearthrob, Mr Darcy aka Colin Firth. We can well understand Mrs Bennett’s excitement on hearing of Darcy’s marriage to her daughter Elizabeth when she says ‘What pin-money, what jewels, what carriages you will have’ . However we can only imagine the love jewellery Darcy gave Elizabeth when they did get together because sadly Jane Austen didn’t choose to enlighten us.

Early 19th century gold ring set with seven emeralds in foiled closed-back settings. courtesy Ann Schofield Antiques, Sydney

Travel on the roads improved after 1793 with the installation of turnpikes, which meant the road users paid for the upkeep of the roads. Mr. Darcy could travel fifty miles of good road in a little more than half a day’s journey to the great country houses and their interiors providing a sensational backdrop of classic order for on centre stage, according to Jane Austen’s novels, was social folly.

Jane Austen’s novels of young women ‘fighting the battles of the heart to win the prize of marriage upon the field of courtship’, belong as much to her times as do the list of battle honours won by those involved in the war campaigns. Throughout the eighteenth century the ring remained one of the most significant of all love tokens, its unbroken circle reinforcing a message of commitment to marriage and the happy couples eternal regard, one for the other.

Some had the addition of coloured stones spelling out a term of endearment. Each stone had a meaning … emerald for love… turquoise for forget-me-knots, ruby for passion and so forth. Owners at this time also re-modelled old jewels to accommodate newly acquired gemstones and it is more than likely that Elinor from Sense and Sensibility went to Gray’s in Sackville St to carry on “the exchange of a few old-fashioned jewels of her mother”.

The ideal jewel to complement high waisted opaque dresses with puffed sleeves needed to be simple, geometric and flat and pendants were exceedingly popular.

This superb example uses almandine garnets in deep shades of red that glint with fire and light. Set into rose gold and backed by foiling to add refaction, this is a shape rarely seen and available in the first thirty years of the nineteenth century.

Garnets fitted into the craze for archaelogical jewellery as they had been popular with all ancient Mediterranean civilisations particularly Egypt, Greece and Rome. January is a garnet in birthstone and it is also the sign of Aquarius in the Zodiac.  The word garnet comes from ‘granatum’ the pomegranate, because the gem colour was supposed to be the same as that of pomegranate fruit, which has a bright purplish red flesh.

Napoleon I on his Imperial Throne, by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, 1806

The coming to power of Napoleon Bonaparte as Consul, and later Emperor of France would change not only the political and social scene in the western world but also the world of costume of which jewellery was an integral part.

Novelist, dramatist, satirist, philosopher and brilliant letter writer Denis Diderot (1713-1784), during revolutionary times, became the moral philosopher and apostle of the Enlightenment.  His dictum that the function of art was to make ‘virtue adorable and vice repugnant’ meant that Ancient Rome became a symbol for the revolutionary protest.

During this period Napoleon was a student in Paris and grew personally very passionate about the history of ancient Rome. All the images of his leadership in France prove he embraced and projected this knowledge of history through the use of the iconography and symbolism. Added to his innate understanding of public relations and his own brilliant marketing techniques means that all the images of him portray him as a successful, powerful leader.

Napoleon Bonaparte lived in a masculine society, which valued friendship. He was attracted to strong men of courage, who spoke their minds and came from all backgrounds.

Jean Baptiste Isabey designed the costume and regalia he wore at his coronation on 18th May 1804.  His portrait depicts him seated on a massive throne covered in Roman ornamental devices. His feet are on a pillow symbolising his newly obtained nobility and the lofty heights he had now risen.

On his head is a splendid gold laurel wreath in the Greek taste. as worn by Roman Generals during a military triumph. Each leaf represented a military victory to his credit. So great was the weight of this ornament when it had been completed it was necessary to prune it in order to make it more practical for use.

He is holding in his hands two uniquely French sceptres purpose built for his coronation. The gold rod in his left hand is surmounted by a surviving medieval ivory ornament of the ‘Hand of God’ in a blessing gesture meant to represent the ‘hand of justice’. (Roman Generals in charge of provinces throughout Roman Empire dispensed Justice).

In his right hand is another of the few surviving pieces of the medieval French crown jewels currently on display in the Louvre. The gold rod is over five feet long surmounted by a lily supporting a small statuette of Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne undisputed ruler of Europe in the eighth century.

The magnificent Regent diamond, previously worn by Marie Antoinette, was set into the handle of his coronation sword. His undergarment of white silk was extravagantly embroidered with gold thread as was the incredible velvet gold embroidered coronation robe he wore. It was scattered with Imperial bees, his personal symbol of industriousness.

Empress Josephine

Napoleon was besotted with his lovely wife, the widow from Martinique who had won his heart and he loved giving her presents. He had married Rose Josephe Tascher Beauharnais in 1794 giving her a ring engraved ‘to destiny’. He told her “I don’t like your name; from now on I will call you Josephine.” His love letters described her as ‘the moving spirit of my life’ revealing the passionate side of his nature. A letter dated December 1795 states ‘a thousand kisses, but give me none in return, for they set my blood on fire’.

A c1810 French diadem of gilded metal, set with agate and onyx cameos of classical heads V & A Museum London

Josephine’s jewellery, and that of Napoleon’s family, was more than impressive and recorded in Jacques Louis David’s famous painting of the coronation. Her tiara was given to her in love by Napoleon and worn at her coronation in 1802. It has to be one of the most beautiful objects of the period and was made from platinum and set with 1040 diamonds weighing in all about 260 carats and she wore it in love and pride.

Napoleon sisters also wore superb jewellery that he gave to them in brotherly love, as he believed love needed to be practiced, not just written out. (Where did men with these thoughts all go?)? Josephine’s favourite diadem was made of shell, gold, pearls, precious and semi precious stones and set with superb cameos, carved from a single shell.

Elizabeth Conyngham

The fashion for deeply carved cameos increased soon after Napoleon’s Italian campaign of 1796. Many of these were of ancient Greek or Roman origin and were set in all sorts of jewels such as tiaras, necklaces, bracelets and earrings.

In England by the beginning of the nineteenth century the yearly calendar was divided by six months at home, four months in London and a month or six weeks in Bath or some other such watering place, with a month set aside for travelling.

George, Prince of Wales, Regent of England, later George IV, scandalised the nation with his reckless and lavish living habits.

He gave an impressive diamond riviere to his mistress Elizabeth, Lady Conyngham, who reputedly received gifts of jewels valued at the time in the region of £80,000.

From this period onward brilliant cut diamonds were set in open mounts, although smaller stones or rose diamonds continued to be set in closed mounts for some time. Only a small number of diamond jewels of this quality survive in their original closed settings.

A Diamond Riviere

Queen Victoria's Diamond Necklace and Tear Drop Earrings. The necklace has 25 cushion shaped brilliant cut diamonds set in silver and gold. The largest stone weights 11.25 carats.

Jane Austen left the world on the brink of unprecedented change, which would intensify with the ascension of Queen Victoria to the throne in 1832. Jewellery design between 1820 and 1840 followed the evolution of fashion and technical innovation.

The generous décolletages of 1830′s ball and evening gowns encouraged a fashion for large collars worn about the shoulders, rather than around the neck consisting of rich and elaborate arrangements of diamonds and precious coloured stones or gemstone clusters connected by chains

By the 1830′s long chains were being worn in large numbers and in a variety of ways around the neck, across the shoulders, tucked into the belt or pinned on the corsage. When Queen Victoria came to the throne in England as a young girl of 17 she became an important influence on fashion.

Prior to the death of her Prince Consort, Albert (1861) she wore jewels in great abundance and the intimate jewels of sentiment he gave her became greatly favoured. He was extremely fond of designing jewellery for her and she documented this in her diary.

‘My beloved one gave me such an unexpected present, a wreath- made to match the brooch and the earrings. It is entirely his own design and beautifully carried out. The leaves are frosted gold, the orange blossom of which porcelain and four little green enamel oranges, meant to represent our four children’.

Brooch in the form of mistletoe sprig, the leaves enamelled green, the berry in the form of an amorino head, is carved of moonstone. By Carlo Giuliano, C.1880 Anne Schofield Antiques, Sydney

Victorian 18ct gold necklace with five round and four heart-shaped pendants each set with a central gemstone, the initial letters of each spelling the name 'Constance': citrine, opal, nephrite, sapphire, tourmaline, amethyst, nephrite, cabochon (garnet) and emerald. Anne Schofield Antiques, Sydney

The new wealth acquired by the middle classes around the middle of the century and the easier supply of precious metals guaranteed by the discovery of gold in California and Australia had a positive influence on the jewellery industry and it flourished, especially in the second half of the century.

Victorian sentimentality has been the object of much disparagement by historians but it is entirely in fitting with the times.

Large floral pieces created a glamorous display on grand occasions but could also be dismantled into smaller, more wearable elements, such as brooches. Floral jewellery made a touching gift of love or friendship. It could also convey symbolic messages.

In The Language of Flowers, first published by Mrs Burke in 1856, the lily of the valley signified a return of happiness, while the convolvulus could have a number of meanings – from the bonds of love to repose or even extinguished hope.

A typical gift from a groom to bride was a brooch in the form of a flower bouquet. Each individual flower had its own meaning.

Foiled rock crystals, pearls and garnets set in enamelled gold c1840 V & A Museum, London

Basket of Flowers Brooch

The rose was sacred to Venus and a symbol of love. It carried no fewer than 35 related interpretations, depending on its variety and whether it was in bud or bloom. The pansy, stood for ‘think of the giver’,  second only to the rose. Mistletoe represented a kiss, ivy was an emblem of fidelity and marriage and daisies stood for innocence.

Chatelaine of blue jasperware and cut-steel beads with a plaque and pendants, Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd., Etruria, ca. 1780-1800. Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Women throughout Europe in the nineteenth century were set a fine example of devoted love by Victoria, whose children married into many of the European monarchies. They subsequently became guiding spirits of many influential homes.

No longer shackled by official duties, ladies stamped the events of the day with their passion for love and elegance. This era has often been called, rather disparagingly, the Age of Housekeeping, and no object of jewellery reflects that sentiment more than the Chatelaine

Worn in the daytime at a woman’s waist attached to a belt early examples have attached to them a seal, a watch, keys, scissors, thimble case, notebook and so forth. although I am not sure how many were given in love.

Popular since the seventeenth century many were extremely stylishornamented with enamelling, beads, beaded tassels, cameos, and rarely semi precious stones.

Sometimes during this period you would find them set with classical medallions made of the beautiful blue jasperware by that very talented Mr. Wedgwood.  As the century wore on they became more utilitarian and by that time there was once again a mounting interest in archaeology.

Gold Earring 5th Century BC British Museum London

Ancient Greek, Roman and Etruscan Jewellery was now coming to light, unearthed from great archaeological sites in unprecedented quantities.  The variety of jewellery found was evidence of great creativity and imagination with an outstanding richness of design, composition, weight and decoration and throughout the rest of the nineteenth century jewellers would eagerly seek to replicate them.

None were more beautiful than the articles of jewellery produced during the Hellenistic Age between 323 BCE (death of Alexander the Great and end of the Greek Classical period) until about 27 BCE (BCE=Before Christ Event), were unearthed and being made of gold, were in superb condition.  No longer shackled by official duties, ladies stamped the events of the day with their passion for love and elegance.

Lady of the School of Ornament from Punch

A marvellous satirical sketch of a young lady, or English devotee of the High Classical School of Ornament which appeared in the British weekly magazine of humour and satire Punch on 15th July 1859 reflects just how difficult all these ‘ancient’ ornaments were to wear and an amusing edited extract from Punch to accompany it makes the point clearly.

‘My dearest Maude
You know that the Randoms have just returned from their long residence on the Continent, and I am longing to tell you that I spent a day last week with Imogen Random, who kindly showed me her jewel casket. O Maude! How I wished for you to share my excitement….the letter is very large and it goes on…

…Imogen, however confided to me (I am sure I am committing no breach of trust in imparting it all to you dear) that the only drawback to her classical arrangements is her very small and diminutive stature…the weight of her gladiator’s necklace is positively distressing to the collar bones; her hair is visibly diminished since she took to wearing Greek daggers and Roman pins, both of which are so pretty and so antique, … and her poor little ears suffer martyrdom with the weight of her favourite earrings, exquisite flying figures of Victory, which are supposed to be constantly whispering joyful tidings of new conquests…and it ends…employ every art with your Papa to induce him to bring you and Flora to the Eternal city where we go, that you my have the inexpressible happiness of shopping at Castellani…

…’ continued

Carolyn McDowall©The Culture Concept Circle 2009 – 2011

Read the 4 Installment Series in Chronological Order

Love Jewellery – Rome to Renaissance

Love Jewellery – Restoration to Revolution

Love Jewellery – Regency to Revival

Love Jewellery – Romantics to Retro

Related posts:

1. Love Jewellery from Cupid to Cartier
2. Love Jewellery – Rome to Renaissance
3. Love Jewellery – Restoration to Revolution

Painting by Hendrik Danckerts 1675 depicting Charles II being presented with a pineapple by his gardener John Rose. Pineapples at this time were a symbol of luxury and hospitality

During the seventeenth century in Europe and England, expansion of trade and industry led to a period wherein costume was influenced more by currents in art and intellectual thought than by any other factor. King Charles II of England abandoned puritanical coldness following his restoration to the throne in 1660, revitalising both the English people and the economy. It is not surprising Charles wanted to wear fashionable clothes. Following the years in exile he would have still had vivid memories of the Battle of Worcester in 1651 when he been forced to wear ‘nothing but a green coat and a pair of country breeches on and a pair of country shoes, that made him sore all over his feet that he could scarce stir’. On his return from living abroad following the beheading of his father King Charles I and subsequent civil war in England he gave himself up completely to luxury and pleasure, adorning his stylish person with sumptuous textiles and jewels.

Cupid firing his arrow for love...V & A Museum, London

It would have to be said he wore his fur trimmed breeches very stylishly indeed, especially in this portrait where he is receiving a gift that was not only very fashionable, but also very expensive – the ‘king of fruit’ the pineapple which took up to two years to grow in his greenhouse. This love token shows Cupid about to fire an arrow from his bow. It is a relatively inexpensive piece of jewellery made from silver which weights little. In England jewellers made very similar lockets as a souvenir celebrating the marriage of Charles II to Catherine of Braganza in 1662. It seems Catherine had to endure a great deal in terms of infidelity to receive her love jewellery. We know this through the detailed private diary kept from 1660 – 1669 by a Member for Parliament and English naval administrator Samuel Pepys. His eyewitness accounts of events, such as the Great Fire and Great Plague are a rich legacy from this period in history and also provide an insight into the intrigues surrounding the court of Charles II and how Queen Catherine was treated…

Barbara Palmer (née Villiers), Duchess of Cleveland by Sir Peter Lely

…’The court of the second Charles of England fluttered with dazzling and frivolous beauties. They obscured the softer light of other women who boasted only such trite and gentle virtues as womanliness, the fear of God, modesty, honesty and truth. Queen Catherine’s contemporaries detested her …and have left her portrait to posterity painted in malignant colours…

…Catherine lived in her husband’s court as Lot lived in Sodom. …she was one of the best and purest women who ever shared the throne of England. She had equal qualities of head and heart, and both were beyond the average. It has been a pleasant and wholesome labor to trace her blameless life, and to unfold the wrappings that have long hidden the character refined and ennobled by much unnecessary suffering’.

Luscious, lascivious and lovely ladies, many of whom were well known to Charles, were more than often painted by court painter Sir Peter Lely. They always wore pearls as they were considered the essential accessory for the loose state of ‘undress’ ladies of rank at this time generally wore.

Mid seventeenth century court etiquette demanded that only someone of a superior rank could receive a person of lower rank when in a state of undress. By way of contrast a person of inferior rank had to be fully and formally attired when attending a person of superior rank. Wearing a state of undress in a portrait then underlined the fact that the sitter belonged to a very exclusive group of superior people.

The format was so successful and so pervasive that within thirty years everyone, irrespective of rank, was depicted in a similar way so those currently ranked in the upper echelon of society were then forced, once again to change their style preferences.

Ann Maria de' Medici - during the seventeenth century in Europe and England, expansion of trade and industry led to a period wherein costume was influenced more by currents in art and intellectual thought than by any other factor.

When she was 23 Ann Maria de’ Medici (1667-1743) married the Elector Palatine Johann Wilhelm.  The Medici workshops created an exemplary trousseau of works of art, which she took to Dusseldorf with her.

However when she returned to Florence a childless widow she brought back an outstanding collection of jewellery now known as the ‘Electress’ Jewels. They originally numbered just on 1000 objects. Today there are only a few dozen, with many pieces taken apart, melted down, or dispersed at auctions. She did her best to keep the family collections intact and her will clearly specified ‘that nothing was to be transported and removed from the Capital and the State of the Grand Duchy‘. She was the last of the famous Medici family of Florence and her death in 1743 brought their dynasty to an end.

Introduced by the Venetian gem-cutter Vicenti Peruzzi at the end of the 17th century, the modern brilliant cut evolved slowly until the present round form came into use after 1919. The original brilliant cut for diamonds had many facets of different shapes and sizes that were meant to increase its brilliance by minimising the amount of light that escaped from the bottom of the stone.

The Regent Diamond

At the Ball of the Clipped Yew Trees at Versailles in 1745 the Queen of France wore the Regent diamond, which weighed in at 140.50 carats, in her hair. This amazing gem had been found by a slave in an Indian mine in 1698 and concealed inside a large wound in his leg.

Stolen by an English sea captain it had an exciting journey until it joined the collection of jewels belonging to the Royal Family of France, was stolen at the Revolution, recovered and has been on display at the Louvre since 1887.

Marquise de Pompadour Louis XV of France's Mistress

However brilliant The Regent diamond was, it could not stop Louis XV from leaving the ball for a secret assignation with the Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, the lady who became the mistress of his heart for twenty years,

Jeanne Antoinette Poisson gained the title of the Marquise du Pompadour and she successfully attended to Louis every need leading a society whose parties co-existed easily with the intellectual ardour of the philosophes, who were endeavouring to give birth to an age of enlightenment and reason.

Louis gave this mistress of his heart a superb cameo of himself. Diamonds and emeralds surrounded it and she wore it on her bracelet. (pictured). A cameo was originally a gemstone having layers of different colours (eg. Sardonyx and cornelian) carved to show in relief the design and background in contrasting colours.

1st Century Cameo Set c1730 Onyx with gold, amber, tuquoises and rubies

Originating in Roman times the cameo regained its popularity during the Renaissance in Europe when Italian gem engravers working for prominent connoisseurs and collectors such as Lorenzo de Medici and his family started producing them once more.

Since then, with intervening periods, they have been made and mounted in articles of jewellery. This cameo pendant is inset with an onyx carved head of Dionysus in a gold surround set with amber, turquoises and rubies; the back engraved. From the collection of the V & A the cameo is 1st century AD; the setting probably German.

(The deeper the relief the more expensive these jewels were and they would reach their optimum in the second half of the 17th and 18th centuries when they were collected by many an English gentleman on his Grand Tour because they were not only very desirable but also easily transported.)

Madame du Barry

After the Marquise de Pompadour died the King was inconsolable. The Queen Consort was also dying and so the story goes Louis XV was passing through the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles one day and Aaong the crowd who came to see him, or sought to petition him, he caught sight of a young woman standing tall and straight, looking him full in the face and daring to smile.

At their first meeting there is a story, more than likely apocryphal but it’s great anyway, ‘that the beautiful lady curtsied three times as required by protocol and then went straight up to him and kissed him full on the mouth’.

Whatever, the truth of the meeting it certainly had an extraordinary effect on the extremely sad Louis and Jeanne Bécu became his last Mistress, and the infamous Comtesse Du Barry.

Hilary Swank (The Affair of the Necklace) wearing a reproduction of the infamous piece of 'love jewellery'

Visitors crowded into Paris during the years 1784 and 1785 to buy luxury goods when the harvest yielded more than enough wheat. One Charles Bohmer was appointed jeweller to her Majesty.  He desired to sell the most opulent piece of diamond jewellery he had ever made to King Louis XV for Mme du Barry.

He had collected 647 brilliants weighing 2800 carats and assembled it into a four-tier necklace; but the King died before he could conclude the sale.

He then tried to sell it to Marie-Antoinette, who refused it, so not to be outdone, he tried again through a distant relation of the now Louis XVI, not knowing this particular lady had an axe to grind with the Bourbons.

Jeanne de la Motte was so dazzled by the galaxy of diamonds spread before her she conceived a plot, which became the most audacious swindle in French history. It brought undone a great many people, including the King’s Cardinal and damaged the reputation of the monarchy, who became pawns in the ‘affair of the necklace’… (Movie starring Hilary Swank and Australian Simon Baker (The Mentalist).

Queen Marie Antoinette

France and Italy had both developed successful silk trades during the sixteenth century and by this time silk was one of France’s biggest industries centred at Lyon. Louis XIV had also established a manufactory of luxury goods that supplied all the other royal courts of Europe that was also thriving.

Marie Antoinette was, as are all first ladies of state even today, looked upon by the court and country as a leader of style. Her attitude toward the luxury trade threatened France’s economy,  employment and all those who relied on Royal Patronage. On the other hand the general populace wanted the royal family not to live in luxury but to share their wealth.

In real life Marie Antoinette preferred to wear simple muslin dresses and very little jewellery at all. As Queen she wore diamonds and silk on state occasions, including those given to her by Louis XVI as a token of his love. An avid gardener she particularly loved the rose, which was sacred to Venus and stood for love which is nearly always accompanied by the danger of hurt.

Mme du Barry was known for her refined and lavish taste and famous for the fabulous love jewels given to her by Louis XV, which she buried in her garden during the Reign of Terror. She refused to tell her accusers where they were until they said they would let her go if she did.  She and Marie Antoinette both paid the ultimate price, the so-called ‘Wages of Beauty’ (check out the novel by Joan Haslip).

Osterley Park Middlesex England

At the turn of the eighteenth in England and Wales three quarters of the population was still living in the countryside and also had a residence in town.

The success of the English Grand Tour meant that an increasing amount of gentlemen were exposed to a range of influences as well as other cultures. The pride and prejudices of the English Milordi were reflected in how they dressed, dined, performed and were entertained in a selection of social settings.

English eighteenth century literary wit Horace Walpole commented on his return from his Grand Tour in 1741. “I perceive… there is peculiar to us middling houses; how snug they are” ‘Middling houses’ were lived in by country gentry who were busy cultivating an ambience of politeness with a keen, though one must say ‘delicate sense and sensibility, well balanced by common sense’.

Keira Knightly as The Duchess

The age of light and elegance in the decorative arts and mind was lit by candlelight, and advances in mirror plate technology and its reflection encouraged the creation of lavish interiors and stunning jewellery. I would imagine Miss Tilney in Jane Austen’s “Northanger Abbey”, who inherited “a very beautiful set of pearls” from her mother, wore them for special occasions. Just as Mrs Elton did when she arrived at the ball in Emma “as elegant as lace and pearls could make her“, and boasted … “I see very few pearls in the room except mine”. What she would have seen was an extravagant display of necklaces; brooches and stomachers all set with coloured stones and diamonds like those reproduced for Keira Knightly to wear in The Duchess, the story of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire.

Georgian cabochon garnet and rose diamond ear pendants, foil backed gold settings courtesy of Ann Schofield Antiques, Sydney

Garnets are lovely gemstones and come in many colours however at this time the blood red variety was exceedingly popular. For those who were superstitious they were meant to have healing powers and for the romantics they were often exchanged as gifts between friends to demonstrate their affection for each other.

In the eighteenth century foil backings were still being used to enhance coloured gemstones that were shaped and polished as opposed to being faceted.(cabochon). The rose cut of diamond was popular before the advent of the brilliant cut. It had a flat base with two horizontal rows of facets rising to a point.  These lovely earrings have superb cabochon garnets surrounded by rose diamonds, which came into more regular use during the nineteenth century.

The most dramatic love jewels of this period were set in the form of arrows, an obvious reference to Cupid’s dart….a great many have survived made of paste, although hair ornaments were set with emeralds and diamonds and flat cut garnets. The amount and variety of precious materials available to make jewellery in the late eighteenth century by the time of the French Revolution was now expanding rapidly due to expeditions across the ocean to the New World.

The ideology and reality of the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror would affect the western world for hundreds of years to come. The reign of Terror exacted an enormous price on the leading intellectuals, the aristocracy and the economy of France, as well as those seen to have supported them and for a time jewellery production would go into decline.

Fabulous French enamelled gold set with cornelian, pearls and emeralds brooch C1800

The symbols of love are the theme for this delightful piece of Love Jewellery, a brooch in the V & A Museum at London made from gold set with cornelian, pearls and emeralds. It contains Cupid’s bow and arrows (two loose and three in the quiver) which are arranged with a pair of kissing doves; two hearts on fire and a hymeneal torch (named after Hymen, the Greek goddess of marriage. They all form a diagonal composition of great elegance and effectiveness.

Carnelian (also spelled Cornelian) is a reddish-brown mineral commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone. Its use in the decorative arts is known from the Bronze Age and it was widely used in Roman times for setting into seal rings to imprint the insignia of the wearer on wax seals used for important documents and letters.The reason being wax did not stick to it.

Like most jewellery produced in France soon after the Revolution of 1789, the brooch is made of thin gold and contains few precious stones.  The design is pleasing, with at its heart the colour red, the colour of passion symbolising both revolutionary blood and romantic love.

….continued

Carolyn McDowall©The Culture Concept Circle 2009 – 2011

This is part two of a four part series. Read the rest of this series.

Read the 4 Installment Series in Chronological Order

Love Jewellery – Rome to Renaissance

Love Jewellery – Restoration to Revolution

Love Jewellery – Regency to Revival

Love Jewellery – Romantics to Retro

Related posts:

1. Love Jewellery from Cupid to Cartier
2. Love Jewellery – Regency to Revival
3. Love Jewellery – Rome to Renaissance

Venus and Adonis by Rubens

This rather erotic love language comes from the Old Testament of the Bible, an edited extract from the Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s. Love! I am sure everyone has experienced that most frustrating, captivating, exquisite, infuriating, but enduring of all human emotions called love.

An important aspect of every human society yet recorded is a belief that gold and gemstones had an enormous effect on the affairs of many. This has not been limited to any age or culture and tokens of human affection have been treasured throughout the ages. If you bring gold and precious or semi precious stones together skilfully and make them symbolise romance and reflect true love then you have a ‘tour de force’, a triumph of Cupid’s D’art! Excavators at Pompeii found a variety of gem stones in one shop, some only partly cut along with the tools for working them.

Amorini, or cupids in a wallpainting in the Casa Vettii at Pompeii

In another shop a note left by a visitor on that fateful day in the year ‘79 saying. ‘I should like my jewel to be ready at three o’clock’.Pompeii was the place where the elite in Roman society went for a holiday and to enjoy the company of friends. A modern day Australian comparison would be Noosa on the Sunshine Coast. Jewellers had a ready market in Pompeii forming an active profession the Aurifes universi, which supported local candidates for political office. The level of business was such that even very special gem cutters and engravers were drawn to the town and made a living there.

Evidence that love and jewellery were associated in the ancient world can be found detailed in a fresco adorning the walls of the House of Vetti in Pompeii. It depicts a goldsmith’s workshop and a group of amorini, or cupids engaged in making jewelled ornaments, intended to wound a victim’s heart. According to first century documenter of Roman times, author, naturalist and natural philosopher Pliny the Elder ‘People nowadays go to buy clothes in China, look for pearls in the depth of the Red Sea and emeralds in the bowels of the earth…moreover, the practice of piercing the ears has been invented. It did not suffice to wear jewels round the neck, in the hair and on the hands; they also have to be stuck in the body!’

When people today talk about gems and gemology the basic vocabulary seems to have become confused. So just for clarification. Gemstones are minerals found in the earth. ‘Gems’ are objects fashioned from them. Jewels are gems prepared for mounting in jewellery or other objects of art. And, jewellery is the finished product that adorns the wearer.

In ancient Greek mythology Aphrodite, the Goddess of  love and desire rose naked from the foam of the sea and was reputed to have stepped ashore at Cythera in the Ionian islands where grass and flowers sprang up wherever her feet touched the earth. Her divine duty was to make love and inspire others to do so.  In an early manifestation as the familiar of Aphrodite you could describe Eros, the God of Love, perhaps as being bittersweet. Greek lyric poets and tragedians stressed his omnipotence and cruelty. What thing is love for (well I wot) love is a thing, It is a prick; it is a sting, It is a pretty, pretty thing, It is a fire; it is a coal, Whose flame creeps in every hole.’

As a companion of Venus in her Roman manifestation, known as Cupid he could be both young and beautiful. Cupids were widely used emblems of prosperity belonging to the worlds of both Venus and the God of Wine, Bacchus. As time progressed he turned into a rather chubby mischievous little boy.

Venus and Cupid by Cranch

A well-known painting of him with Venus 1531 by Lucas Cranch depicts Cupid complaining to his mother Venus. He is suffering loudly from bee stings – a warning of the pain, which so often accompanies the pleasure of love.

The history of ancient Italy does not just reside with the Romans. Long before Rome became the centre of a Roman Empire, Rome was but a town on the coastal plain tucked between the Latin tribes in the hills to the east and south, with in the north, the mysterious and very colourful people known as the Etruscans. They ruled the lands of Etruria, broadly corresponding to the modern region we now know as Tuscany.

The people called themselves Rasenna, it was the Romans that gave them the name Etruscan (Etrusci or Tusci) and the Greeks called them Tyrsenoi, rendered in English as Tyrrhenians, the name of the sea to the west of the Italian Peninsula. They had a reputation in the ancient world as  consumers of good things and were particularly famous as jewellers.

Etruscan Grape Cluster Earring V & A Museum at London

They crafted gold and silver jewellery and engraved gems, which they traded all around the Mediterranean world. Etruscan goldsmiths produced objects technically very difficult to make. Etruscan grape-cluster earrings of the 4th century before Christ are often shown worn by women on Etruscan terracottas and tomb paintings.

Some terracotta heads show they were very large and nestled behind the curls of the wearer,  tucked into the side of the neck.  Shaped from thin sheet gold clusters of gold globules they were attached and the whole decorated with filigree – attached gold wire – and granulation.

The technique of granulation developed by the Etruscan goldsmiths was brought to an extraordinary standard of perfection and was often extremely fine. It reached its height at Etruria in the seventh and sixth centuries before Christ and has never been surpassed.

Young Woman Mummy Portrait from Fayum

It was necessary to produce first tiny pellets of gold, then using a copper solution mixed with vegetable or fish glue diluted with water, the pellets were then applied in selected patterns onto the object. As copper has a lower melting point than gold, the copper, when heated, joined the pellets to the background, In this way fusion of the pellets and background was prevented and the granular effect was not lost. Granulation is often combined with filigree, which was the application of gold wire to the surface.

1st Century Roman Woman wearing an outstanding collection of Jewellery

Mummification continued to be practised during the Roman period after the year 30 BC in Egypt. Painted mummy portraits like our young lady reveal their jewellery preferences. She is wearing a stunning brooch, with complementary earrings and hair jewel. These paintings are among the most remarkable historical and cultural documents of outstanding interest found in the cemeteries of the Fayum district of Egypt by archaeologist Sir Flinders Petrie (1853–1942).

What archaeologists call true Roman jewellery was first made in the first century BCE. Any Greek or Roman travelling through the Medietrranean area at that time would have been confronted by a cultural mosaic composing elements from many different periods.

The preference in the first century was for colourful, though not very elaborate pieces and pearls, gems and glass paste contrasted with the bright yellow gold to produce jewels of great effect and ostentation, beloved by the nouveaux riche.

Our second portrait was also excavated by Petrie who dubbed her Jewellery Girl. ‘In the top of her bun is a pin set with pearls and garnets. The bun is gathered with a gold chain with a central medallion and decorated gold boxes at either side. Above these a long pin is worn across the back of the head.

She has four necklaces, the uppermost matching the pin in the bun with pale stones, perhaps aquamarine in gold settings between small pearls and garnets. Beneath is a necklace of squared emeralds separated by gold beads, and below that a chain of gold beads with a gold pendant. Hanging low on her breast is a plated gold chain with a large oval stone, perhaps an emerald intaglio in a heavy gold setting.  She is also wearing trident earrings with a central pearl set above the bar and three pendant pearls.  Pearls were highly prized, the most valuable usually imported from the Red Sea could fetch exorbitant prices. Drop earrings consisting of two or more pearls were called crotalia, by analogy with the tinkling sound of the simple percussion instruments played at that time called crotali’.

Roman garnet intaglio, c. 1st century AD, engraved with a nude Apollo, his right arm raised holding a bow, his left arm reaching for an arrow from his quiver, a wreath in his hair, in a classic 22ct gold setting. Anne Schofield Antiques, Sydney

Fragment of a 1st Century Cameo

Women during Roman times wore a great deal of ancestral jewellery handed down, so dating them stylistically from mummy boards doesn’t always work for some scholars. As the Roman Empire collapsed between the fourth and sixth centuries after Christ fragments of precious jewels were preserved and today collecting them has become a favourite pastime for many.

Two of the most favoured jewels in ancient society was an Intaglio,  that of an image created by cutting, carving or engraving into a flat surface and the Cameo, where the image is what is left when the background has been cut away to leave the image above the back ground.

The measure of a cameo of great quality is the depth of its carving.

The Ancient Cultural mosaic was shattered between the fourth and sixth centuries AD as the borders of the Roman Empire collapsed and today fragmens of the Greek , Etruscan and Roman cultural mosaic are spread throughout the world. The Lady and the Unicorn (La Dame a la Licorne) is the collective title for six tapestry panels, hung originally in the Castle of Boussac and now in the Museum of the Middle Ages (Museé de Moyen Age) at Paris.

Lady and the Unicorn - Sound

The colours of the clothes, flowers (mille fleurs) and jewellery were rendered in wool and provide a superb documentary record of the style of costume worn in fourteenth century Europe. Costume encompasses all that we wear, including objects for personal adornment such as jewellery, hats, gloves, shoes, accessories and undergarments.

All these various aspects of costume have an interesting history and reflect our social growth. They also project our beliefs both religious and spiritual, while aesthetically convey an image purely for purposes of personal status or, to accommodate a desire to be distinguished from others in a culture and its society.

Henry VIII in a typical power pose

As the feudal system, that had been in place throughout the middle ages disintegrated a burgeoning of luxury in the royal and princely courts of Europe and England began.  At this level costume is subjected to politics; the preening extravagances of exotic charismatic emperors, princes, potentates or dictators was from antiquity right through until today

The Tudor monarchs of England perceived that visitors to the court equated lavish display with national strength and power. No other period in history was to give men more precious adornments to project their beauty and status and Henry VIII (1491-1547) just loved flamboyant display,  apparent in all familiar depictions of him.

19th century reproduction Renaissance Hat Badge by Castellani courtesy V & A Museum London

His chest measured 45 inches in his youth and he wore lavish clothes on which jewels were abundantly applied. By 1540 Henry’s chest had grown to 58 inches and was a perfect display area. (Who would have needed a jewellery shop with a client like Henry. He is a display case in himself). He strived to keep, forgive the pun, abreast of all the latest developments in the arts. When viewing his portraits however, we would have to believe that his elaborate codpiece protected, what he more than likely would have considered, after having had six wives, his most precious jewels of all.

At this time aesthetic and ethical ideas could not be considered a mere imitation of the classical world for it was believed that if the ancients were to be revered and admired at all it was because they were thought to have found their wisdom and art at the same source as that of knowledge and beauty. This was an ideal Henry VIII turned to in his quest for a new life.

One of the most popular adornments he wore was called an Enseigne (hat badge). Made of gold and jewels and worn on the hat or cap of men of prominence, their design was mainly allegorical accompanied by an explanatory motto. These devices, as they became known,  led to a delight in anything ingenious or unusual even if it had no secret meaning.

Artists rendering them in many mediums chose the better known mythology of the ancient world and as a result,  their works were rich in amatory illusion. The intent of any device was to teach an intuitive form of moral truth.

Their real charm however lay in the fact it was only those who could read their visual message that knew their real significance so if you particularly want to understand jewellery design of this period you need to be well versed in your mythology and legend.

15c Italian Gold Signet Ring

The Venetian ambassador to his court described Henry VIII’s fingers as ‘one mass of jewelled rings’. Rings on the finger, and indeed on other parts of one’s person, have been worn continuously since the 3rd Millennium BCE by all civilisations. The ring, being a circle, has no beginning or end so perfectly represents the enduring qualities of true love. A diamond inset into a marriage ring was, by the C15, a symbol of conjugal faithfulness because of its resistance to fire and steel. It was also used in its natural crystalline structure and set, although it did not sparkle like today’s highly polished jewels. Its hardness however was admired and it came to symbolise the durability of marriage and an important aspect of the ritual surrounding weddings. Anne of Cleves when she married Henry VIII had a very optimistic inscription on her wedding ring: ‘God send me well to kepe’.

Jane Seymour by Holbein

Henry encouraged foreign artisans to England. In 1526 German painter Hans Holbein the Younger arrived and by 1536 had become the King’s painter. As well as rendering series of portraits of eminent people of his era Holbein embraced jewellery and metal design, books illustration and decorative schemes.

Early eighteenth century British physician, naturalist and collector Sir Hans Sloane bequeathed 179 of Holbein’s jewellery designs to the British Museum and they provide a fascinating study.

Jane Seymour, who gave Henry his long awaited son and heir, was painted by Holbein wearing some wonderful jewellery given in love by Henry to her. Her selection includes a popular form of pendant made of a large emerald, emblematic of love, together with a ravishing ruby, representing his passion.

The sixteenth centuries luxurious materials, rich heavy stuffs, thick embroideries, sumptuous silks and velvets, as well as fragile lace, provided perfect settings for, or enhanced the wearing of, superb jewellery.

For many it was far more important to have seen Queen Elizabeth 1 (1558 – 1603) in person than to have seen England.

Coronation Portrait Elizabeth 1

At her coronation, which took place on a crisp winter morning with just a hint of snow in the air, ‘she wore her hair as her mother had done, unbraided… hanging loosely about her shoulders’ symbolic of her unmarried state. The congregation in Westminster Abbey went wild with enthusiasm.

She was clothed in a gown made from one of the extraordinary textiles of the time, known as the cloth of gold, holding a bejewelled orb and sceptre her hands as well as the objects being symbols of her authority . Her gown was trimmed with ermine, symbolic of her purity as a Virgin Queen as were the pearls in her crown.

Elizabeth 1 was given a great deal of jewellery as a ‘love gift’, however none more acceptable to her than that from her favourite the Earl of Leicester. She was well aware of what image and marketing, supposed modern concepts, were all about and revelled in the business of courtship, a game at which she excelled. It is evident, from all the writings about her Elizabeth loved the rich gifts of jewels showered upon her as well as the flattery and protestations of the various envoys all striving to outdo each other for her favour.

Elizabeth 1

Baron Zdenek Waldstein of Moravia visited England in the summer of 1600 and prayed for nothing so much as that he ‘might come face to face into the presence of your majesty…the greatest object of my journey ‘the figure of the Queen’ glittering with the glory of majesty and adorned with jewellery and precious gems’.

Erik XIV of Sweden declared he would ‘rush through armies of foes to protect her’ and had a superb portrait of her painted for his personal pleasure. In it, sewn to her very chic red coat and hat are clusters of gems and pearls and the sleeves of the jacket are encrusted with pearls all the way up to the elbows.

Sir Francis Bacon recorded that Elizabeth imagined people … ‘would be diverted by the glitter of her jewels from noticing the decay of her personal attractions’…and surviving contemporary portraits reveal the extent of her ability to influence people’s perceptions of her.

Artists and artisans of the Renaissance in Italy took full possession of their classical heritage and it inspired them toward new creative endeavours.

Bia de Medici (Uffizi, Florence)

The House of Medici was a new type of patron. This prominent banking family was very passionate about the antique and it had the wealth to patronise artists with great creative gifts.

The remaining Treasures of the Medici, although plundered over the centuries were a triumph of the jeweller’s art and for as long as the duchy lasted the creation of beautiful objets d’art was a focus and boast of the Medici Court.

During the Middle Ages Venus had come to represent fear of nudity, luxuria, or sensuality, as well as paganism. During Europe’s rebirth she returned to her original role as universal mother and creator of all living things.

Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) painted her as a contemporary lady and placed her before a mirror, a symbol of truth (it does not lie), which reflects pride (Satan’s image), as well as the two dangers of vanity and lust. Ruben’s Venus is a truly luscious lady wearing, well nothing at all really, except a stunning gold bracelet decorated with arrows.

This is a sign that Cupid, now reduced to a winged youth or chubby infant flying about on golden wings randomly shooting arrows to make his targets fall in love, or setting their hearts on fire with his torch, has been around endeavouring to use the power of love to disarm her strength….continued

This is part one of a four part series.
Love Jewellery – Cupid to Cartier

Read the rest of this series

Author Carolyn McDowall ©The Culture Concept Circle 2010, 2011

Read the 4 Installment Series in Chronological Order

Love Jewellery – Rome to Renaissance

Love Jewellery – Restoration to Revolution

Love Jewellery – Regency to Revival

Love Jewellery – Romantics to Retro

Related posts:

1. Love Jewellery from Cupid to Cartier
2. Love Jewellery – Regency to Revival
3. Love Jewellery – Romantics to Retro