I remember browsing through an antique jewelry dealer’s shop as a preteen and noticing a large display of Victorian era black jewelry. There were brooches, rings and earrings, all featuring black stones. I remarked that they must have liked black a lot in the “olden days” and the shopkeeper informed me that it was mourning jewelry, worn when a loved one died.

The wearing of mourning, or memorial, jewelry began in England in the 16^th century. Before long it was common for mourning rings to be distributed at a funeral in memory of the deceased. Skulls and skeletons were popular designs for mourning jewelry for many years, and were often worn as a memento mori: a symbol of one’s own mortality. Eventually these designs lost popularity and were rarely seen after the 1760s.

It was about that time that a more sentimental form of mourning jewelry came into fashion. Scenes of urns, tombs, weeping willows and grieving maidens were depicted, usually in paint or enamel. Human hair was often worked into the scene, perhaps as the branches of the weeping willow. These scenes of grief appeared on brooches, rings and pendants. The scene was often set in a frame of engraved gold, gemstones or seed pearls, symbolizing tears. The name of the deceased and date of death were often on the piece, making it easy for the collector to date the jewelry.

As the nineteenth century wore on, jet became fashionable in mourning jewelry. It grew in favor after the death of Britain’s King George IV and was Queen Victoria’s adornment of choice following the death of her husband, Prince Albert. The Queen was in mourning for forty years, and during that time the court wore black with black jewelry. Hence, black mourning jewelry gained popularity among the populace and black jewelry was even worn by people who weren’t mourning.

Jet is fossilized coal and is easily carved. Mid-nineteenth century jet jewelry was often carved into medallions, serpent bracelets, rings, flowers and crosses, while the styles of the late nineteenth century were much more plain. Imitations such as “French Jet” (black glass) were sometimes used and it can be difficult to tell true jet apart from these. Jet was one of the most common materials used in jewelry by the end of the nineteenth century, and onyx was also frequently used.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 30th, 2006 at 8:53 am and is filed under collecting fyi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.