More weird Victoriana

[glitterata]

Or maybe that subject line should say more weird Georgiana, because I''m not exactly sure when my new suite is from. I do know it''s from the 19th century sometime, but it might predate Queen Victoria.

Last year I saw a suite of jewelry at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, a necklace and pair of bracelets woven of horsehair dyed bright red. "Strange jewelry woven in the 19th century out of a fragile material with little intrinsic value?" I said to myself. "I NEED that!!" I already had 19th century jewelry woven from human hair and some woven from steel wire, but no scarlet horsehair.

Smashing the case and running off with the set seemed like a bad idea, so I looked and looked and looked and looked, and finally I found a very similar set of red-dyed horsehair jewelry for sale.

 

[glitterata]

Here''s my set. The woman who sold it to me thought it was from the 1860s-1880s, but the nearly identical set in the Cooper-Hewitt is labeled c. 1830, and I found a reference to scarlet dyed horsehair bracelets being all the rage in England in 1823, so I think the seller got the date a little late.

 

[glitterata]

It''s a pretty dramatic look. Front of the bracelet:

 

[glitterata]

Back of the bracelet, with bellflower dangles:

 

[glitterata]

Not so great neck shot, to show the scale:

 

[glitterata]

My set includes the necklace, a brooch, one bracelet, and part of one earring. The earring fragment was a surprise to me when the set arrived in the mail--the seller didn''t mention it in her description. It''s much more worn and faded than the rest of the set, so I imagine the lady or ladies who owned the set wore the earrings much more than the rest of it.

Back then bracelets came in pairs, like in the Cooper-Hewitt''s set. I''m sure my set originally had one more bracelet and (of course) one more earring.

If anyone''s interested in seeing how it''s constructed, I can post pictures of the backs of the pieces.

If anyone has any advice about how to keep this set in its current wonderful, fresh, unfaded condition, please say!

 

[Circe]

How utterly fascinating! Do, *please* post pics of how it''s constructed ....

 

[glitterata]

Back of the bracelet:

 

[glitterata]

Close-up:

 

[Circe]

I''m fairly crafty, and I cannot even begin to imagine the amount of labor that must have gone into something like this: I know horsehair is easier to work than human hair, but, nevertheless ....

What a fascinating glimpse into past fashion/value!

 

[glitterata]

Back of brooch, showing an old repair--someone used cotton thread to sew the brooch front to a pin mechanism, maybe after the original pin mechanism broke. You can see the original circle part under the later one.

 

[glitterata]

Date: 6/25/2009 1:20:44 AM
Author: Circe
I''m fairly crafty, and I cannot even begin to imagine the amount of labor that must have gone into something like this: I know horsehair is easier to work than human hair, but, nevertheless ....


What a fascinating glimpse into past fashion/value!

I know, isn''t it hard to believe?

I wonder if this stuff was meant to imitate coral?

I think it looks very modern. I bet people won''t know it''s over 150 years old unless I tell them.

I''m going to see if I can find any old paintings of women wearing this sort of jewelry.

 

[Kaleigh]

How awesome. I love it, and think you get the coolest pieces. I look forward to learning more as you do about this wonderful set.

 

[DiaDiva]

How amazing! Thanks for sharing all your fascinating finds.

 

[glitterata]

Thank you, ladies! I know it''s not everybody''s taste, but I love these.

 

[Liane]

Wow, thank you for sharing this and all the lovely pictures. I''d never heard of or imagined such a thing, and it''s completely fascinating. The color does seem very reminiscent of coral, but I''d never have guessed that could be the intent.

 

[Liane]

It''s particularly fascinating to me because when you said "woven horsehair" I was imagining something a lot more like modern-day hemp jewelry, or maybe the basket weaves you sometimes see of human hair in memorial lockets, and this is nothing at all like that. I wonder how it''s put together, and what nameless artisan came up with the idea.

Really interesting find, thanks again!

 

[jewelerman]

Date: 6/25/2009 12:34:02 AM
Author:glitterata
Or maybe that subject line should say more weird Georgiana, because I''m not exactly sure when my new suite is from. I do know it''s from the 19th century sometime, but it might predate Queen Victoria.

Last year I saw a suite of jewelry at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, a necklace and pair of bracelets woven of horsehair dyed bright red. ''Strange jewelry woven in the 19th century out of a fragile material with little intrinsic value?'' I said to myself. ''I NEED that!!'' I already had 19th century jewelry woven from human hair and some woven from steel wire, but no scarlet horsehair.

Smashing the case and running off with the set seemed like a bad idea, so I looked and looked and looked and looked, and finally I found a very similar set of red-dyed horsehair jewelry for sale.

Wow!When i saw this post i couldnt wait to comment!Ive never seen this style of jewelry and it really peaked my curiosity!Ive seen the seed pearl sets that are from the 1830s -1860s that look alot like this set,but never the wild and bright reds!This was a real find!Its so strange its cool!Ive seen the bead bracelets that women wore in the 1850s-60s with huge stone or coral beads that were approx.12mm big...maybe that over the top trend grew from this one?Would love to see old photos of women wearing a set like this!Thanks so much for the photos!Also wonder if this is an American or English set as this type of intricate work was popular in these 2 locations.The red would seem more metrpolitan to me...London or New York.

 

[glitterata]

I know, wild, isn't it? I've seen the seed pearl jewelry strung on white horsehair too, but never the red stuff until I saw it in the museum. Did you take a look at the link? The museum thinks their set is probably English.

I also found a reference in a book about 19th c English fashion, quoting a fashion source that says bracelets made of horsehair dyed scarlet are all the rage that year, 1823. (Here's the link ; I hope it works.)

And I found a reference somewhere to jewelry like this being manufactured in Ireland as way to give people work and help the economy. I can't find the reference now, though.

Jewelerman, what makes you think this is an especially urban style?

So far I've had no luck finding old paintings that show women wearing jewelry like this. I'll keep trying. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong time period. Or maybe it was considered mere costume jewelry, not something you would wear to have your portrait painted.

 

[jewelerman]

Date: 6/26/2009 12:39:29 AM
Author: glitterata
I know, wild, isn''t it? I''ve seen the seed pearl jewelry strung on white horsehair too, but never the red stuff until I saw it in the museum. Did you take a look at the link? The museum thinks their set is probably English.

I also found a reference in a book about 19th c English fashion, quoting a fashion source that says bracelets made of horsehair dyed scarlet are all the rage that year, 1823. (Here''s the link ; I hope it works.)

And I found a reference somewhere to jewelry like this being manufactured in Ireland as way to give people work and help the economy. I can''t find the reference now, though.

Jewelerman, what makes you think this is an especially urban style?

So far I''ve had no luck finding old paintings that show women wearing jewelry like this. I''ll keep trying. Maybe I''m looking in the wrong time period. Or maybe it was considered mere costume jewelry, not something you would wear to have your portrait painted.

urban areas and larger cities have always had populations that are less conservative and fashion foward.Red has alwas been a more foward fashion color and this very ornate jewelry style dosnt seem to be for everyday wear but for evening or special occasion wear with a dress that has a neck cut to show off a necklace and the bracelets are for bare arms or 3/4 sleeves.fashions in the 1830s-50s were extremly conservative and most women had few dresses let alone trendy ones(machine made cotton fabric was considered a fine fabric by some and used for wedding dresses!).

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

You always have interesting things to share G! Thanks!!

cheers--Sharon

 

[glitterata]

Date: 6/26/2009 2:20:55 AM
Author: jewelerman

Date: 6/26/2009 12:39:29 AM

Author: glitterata


Jewelerman, what makes you think this is an especially urban style?


So far I''ve had no luck finding old paintings that show women wearing jewelry like this. I''ll keep trying. Maybe I''m looking in the wrong time period. Or maybe it was considered mere costume jewelry, not something you would wear to have your portrait painted.

urban areas and larger cities have always had populations that are less conservative and fashion foward.Red has alwas been a more foward fashion color and this very ornate jewelry style dosnt seem to be for everyday wear but for evening or special occasion wear with a dress that has a neck cut to show off a necklace and the bracelets are for bare arms or 3/4 sleeves.fashions in the 1830s-50s were extremly conservative and most women had few dresses let alone trendy ones(machine made cotton fabric was considered a fine fabric by some and used for wedding dresses!).

Jewelerman, I think you''re probably right about this being worn with evening dresses--low cut, shorter sleeves. But rich people would wear evening dress everywhere, not just in the big cities, wouldn''t they?

And I disagree about the red. Before the 1860s or so, when new chemical dyes were invented, there were only a few colors that people had available--and red was one of them. Country people wore it as well as city people. Think of red flannel petticoats, or Little Red Riding Hood''s little red riding hood. And you would need much less dye to color a little jewelry than an entire cloak. (Of course, I don''t know for sure that this set is dyed with natural, pre-aniline dyes. But it might be. Could well be cochineal.)

I''m not saying you''re wrong about this being an urban style, just that I''m not convinced yet.

 

[oldmancoyote]

Glitterata - well done on finding this out!

I''m staggered by the size of the pieces, particularly of the earrings and the bracelet. Must have been visible from far away!

On conservation - I think asking the Cooper-Hewitt curators would probably be the best bet for a truly sound strategy, but I can only assume that being organic material with natural dyes, keeping it dry, cool and in the dark - particularly away from UV lights - is going to be essential.

 

[Mannequin]

What a beautiful set of jewelry! I had a horsehair tail bracelet made by Twisted Tails to commemorate a very special equine friend, but it''s nowhere near as elaborate as this. It''s gorgeous!

 

[glitterata]

Thank you for the kind words, Liane and Sharon. Equestrienne, that''s so cool that you have a memento from your horse friend.

OldManCoyote, I emailed the Cooper-Hewitt. There''s not much I can do about the hot, humid summers where I live (we don''t use air conditioning except in the bedroom at night), but I do have the set in opaque boxes. I wonder whether I need to get acid-free boxes & tissue.

 

[jewelerman]

Date: 6/26/2009 3:55:07 PM
Author: glitterata
Thank you for the kind words, Liane and Sharon. Equestrienne, that''s so cool that you have a memento from your horse friend.

OldManCoyote, I emailed the Cooper-Hewitt. There''s not much I can do about the hot, humid summers where I live (we don''t use air conditioning except in the bedroom at night), but I do have the set in opaque boxes. I wonder whether I need to get acid-free boxes & tissue.

I agree that asid free everything is important.Also its important to be very careful about what you wear on your skin when wearing organic jewelry.No purfume when wearing organics,be very careful about lotions with zinc oxcides(no lotions is best.)Also a little extreme...but dont handle citrus fruits or tomatos so it transfers to your jewelry when you perspire when hot.Scented soaps are not good on organic gems.

 

[Diamond*Dana]

Wow, those are some very intricate pieces...I have never seen anything like them!

 

[Catmom]

Oh My Goodness, what a fantastic set glitterata!! It must have taken months to make that set. Unusual but absolutely gorgeous!!

 

[glitterata]

Thank you, Dana & Michelle!

 

[VRBeauty]

I obviously have to peruse this forum more often. Glitterata -- what a wonderful set, and what a spectacular find! My first thought was similar to Circe''s, I can''t imagine the amount of work that went into those pieces! Please keep us posted if you find out more about this fashion.