A brief history of sentimental jewelry in the 19th century

BY VALERIE GOUPIL, DOCTOR IN ART HISTORY, JEWELRY HISTORIAN, EXPERT-GEMMOLOGIST

The “jewel of sentiment” is a jewel inspired by love, in its broad sense: amorous, fraternal, filial, friendly... Offered, exchanged, a pledge materializing the unwavering bond between the person who wears it and its donor. Worn on oneself, sometimes on the skin, it is a mediator allowing one to remain physically in contact with the one one desires kept close to oneself. This very intimate jewel, sometimes not “readable” to outsiders, displays delicate ingenuity and uses a very personal language in order to restore the presence of the absent being. The modes of representation are varied: portrait, symbols, emblems, allegories, inscriptions and body fragments are used to make the loved one live with you.

The portrait in the jewel of feeling

Already so frequently set in miniature in the 16th century, the portrait, made from the “original” or sometimes from memory, fixes the features forever. The latter must be very faithful, in order to make up for the absence and create “the most vivid sensation”, the physical disturbance, when looked at. For lovers, he is a talisman. It allows remote communication, like Saint-Preux, in The New Héloïse, in front of Julie's miniature portrait: “Don't you feel your eyes, your cheeks, your mouth, your breast, pressed, compressed, monopolized by my ardent kisses? ".
The gaze of the owner animates them, thus in the Memoirs of two young brides of H. by Balzac, Felipe contemplating the “marvellous ivory”, portrait of Louise, sees her “blue eyes (which) come alive and the painting immediately becomes a reality”.

The portrait (continued)

Executed in watercolor on ivory, these portraits of varied dimensions, tiny (1cm) to imposing (5cm and more), are visible to all, protected by glass, mounted as the main motif of brooches, rings or bracelets, some of which display several, inserted on articulated plates. The portraits can also be hidden inside a sort of medallion whose cover can be opened using a small hinge or hidden by a rotation system, as on this ring with a rotating bezel (ill. 1) or even on the reverse of a brooch.
Of the beloved face, sometimes only an eloquent part is retained: the look, concentrated on a single eye, painted in miniature. The expression, often striking, has been set particularly in England since the end of the 18th century, on brooches, rings, pendants and bracelet clasps.
After the invention of photography in 1839, miniatures were gradually replaced by more “real” photographic portraits, without the interpretation of the miniaturist artist. Reduced, sometimes painted, when visible, they are inserted in the center of the jewelry (ill. 2). Hidden there could be numerous, up to half a dozen, inserted into a single medallion with clever processes.

Allegories, emblems and symbols in sentiment jewelry

So that the link with the loved one and the feeling are strengthened, allegories, emblems and symbols can be added, inspired by Renaissance manuals, reappropriated in the 17th century. The most frequent allegory is that of Friendship, so often associated with the feeling of Love in the 18th century, which is why their iconography is often identical until the beginning of the 19th century.
Often represented by a female figure near an elm tree, surrounded by vines or ivy, a symbol of constancy and eternity. On small ivories from this period, she can be accompanied by a dog, a symbol of fidelity. To this is sometimes added an inscription reinforcing these signs: “gift of friendship”, “souvenir of friendship”. This token of affection, in the 19th century, can be written on the ring of the rings with diamonds and colored stones or on the bezel highlighted by the colored enamels (ill. 3).
Reading the messages is not always easy on “feeling jewelry”, particularly when it is necessary to know the name of the stones to juxtapose their initial in order to understand their meaning. Thus, on the acrostic bracelets made by Nitot, it is possible to discover the first names of Napoleon and Marie-Louise, the dates of their first meeting and their marriage.

Love...

Love is represented by Venus, a Roman goddess, often accompanied by her son Cupid (Eros in Greek mythology) (ill.4), chubby and mischievous child, messenger of love, armed with a bow, a quiver and arrows piercing the most hardened hearts. His chubby face makes up the kitten of Roman rings and his stratagems to achieve his ends, demonstrating the power of love, are illustrated on miniatures in the 18th century. Flying over the altar of love and now the flaming torch of Hymenaeus, he fans the fires of passion. His attributes are reproduced on miniatures and made up head jewelry and brooches in the 19th century (ill.5).
Seat of love, of which it is the symbol, maintained by Cupid, the heart is the most popular motif. Alone or paired, inflamed, pierced with arrows, inlaid with the lovers' initials, crowned with the attributes of Venus: roses and myrtle, it adorns all types of jewelry.
Doves or doves, other attributes of the goddess of love, were very present in jewelry in the 18th century, becoming rarer at the beginning of the following century. We observe them pecking, incubating the eggs in the nest or flying, holding in their beak a crown or the ends of a ribbon forming a bow, as they move away from each other.
Symbol of the indestructible bond between two beings, the Gordian knot cannot be untied. In 1824, it was a frequent motif, worn as a ring and pin, made in gold, enamel, bronzed steel and iron.
The doves will give way to the snake, coiled, biting its tail, symbol of eternity. As a necklace, it can hold between its hooks, a small opening heart allowing you to hide a lock of hair (ill.7).

Messenger flowers...

If the rose refers to love and its initiation in The Romance of the Rose, other flowers are highly valued for their coded language. Thus, the forget-me-not, in English “ forget me not », “forget me not”, with its turquoise colored petals and its yellow heart is very popular around miniature portraits.
Another flower, the pansy, for “think of me”, or accompanied by the inscription “to him”, is common, enameled on “slavery” necklaces, on rings and in relief on “reliquaries”, opening medallions. or on the back of a portrait (ill.1 And ill.6).
Inspired by love and friendship, the ring fede (from Italian mani in fede) known as “foy ring” or “good faith”, emblem of two intertwined hands with or without inscription. Many of these rings, set with an intaglio, or paired, can be opened, revealing two names, a date, a message. Some offer a heart or a forget-me-not.

Hair jewelry

But what allows us to remain closest to the absent being is to carry “a part” of ourselves: our hair. At the beginning of the 19th century, finely cut and glued on ivory, they still represented small landscapes with allegories and symbols: altar and temple of love, flaming hearts, birds... They were also gathered in the form of loops or delicately rolled up. in medallions, brooches and in the settings of rings, exposed to view or hidden on the back of a miniature or photograph. Braided, they make chains, belts, rings, earrings, bracelets (ill. 8). From around 1840, hair work became more and more voluminous, particularly for bracelets to which symbols were added.
In 1852, on her way to Germany, the Countess of V*** brought a bracelet made by Lemonnier, jeweler and hair designer. The jewel “made of hair on which forget-me-nots rise from distance to distance” are “admirably imitated” and remarks the Baroness de Lagny: “Is it not a happy thought to wear, close to those who are far away of France, the emblem of remembrance? ". In 1853, a snake bracelet was noticed on the Champ-de-Mars “whose rings of blond hair are, so to speak, golden in the sun. (The) snake crawls gracefully on a reed leaf of natural shade in green enamel. The head is flamboyant with emeralds and brilliants. It is a dazzling masterpiece. »

The jewel of feeling, evocation and testimony

Composed of complex signs often associated (portrait/symbols/allegory/hair/inscriptions), the “jewel of feeling” allows the evocation of the loved one and thus reduces the distance which separates its possessor from its donor. It is the moving testimony of these links, present or disappeared, the trace of feelings and the existence of lives, anonymous or not.

Legend details:
Ill. 1: Swivel ring, portrait and thought painted on mother-of-pearl and circled in black and gold. French jewelry around 1800.
Ill. 2: Bracelet with colorful photographic portrait and braided hair. Second part of the 19th century. Clasp in 750 thousandths gold. Height at the miniature: 3.2 cm, total width of the clasp: 5 cm, width of the hair bracelet: 1.3 cm.
Ill. 3: Friendship ring, 750 thousandths gold, enamelled and chiselled. French work from the 19th century.
Ill. 4: Souvenir holder pendant, silver and 585 thousandths gold, miniature, fine pearls and red stone. Around 1850. Dimensions: 46 x 30 mm
Ill. 5: Arrow brooch, yellow gold and silver, tiger's eye cabochon, surrounded by rose-cut diamonds. Second part of the 19th century. Length: 6.5cm
Ill. 6: Opening medallion capable of holding a photograph or a lock of hair. 750 thousandths gold and emerald. 19th century. Dimensions: 9 x 3 cm
Ill. 7: Snake necklace holding an opening heart, 585 thousandths gold and garnets. Nineteenth century.
Ill. 8: Hair bracelet, 585 thousandths pink gold and half-pearl surround. Early 19th century. Dimensions of the central element: 10 x 15 mm, total length: 19.5 cm
Ill. 9: Hair brooch, silver and gold. Around 1850. Dimensions: 5 x 4.5 cm
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