The Flickr 18Carat Image Generatr

An intaglio is an engraving cut deeply into the surface of a hard material (as stone) and is very much where the idea of cameos came from. In Georgian times through until the mid Nineteenth Century, young English men of wealth and privilege who had come of age, did what was known in society as "The Grand Tour": a tour of Europe with Italy as a key destination, undertaken with a tutor or responsible adult to further educate the young man in classical art. They often returned to England with many treasures including one or more Italian intaglios, which usually featured either a classical scene or a classical male profile.

In truth, this intaglio is a Victorian cameo from the 1860s. It is a recent acquisition and in order for it to come into my possession it really was all about being in the right place at the right time. I quite enjoy fossicking through charity shops, looking for overlooked treasures. A few weeks before Christmas I happened to be in just such a pursuit when, in a cabinet full of pretty but fairly worthless costume jewellery and cheap silver pieces, I came across a real treasure! This cameo, mounted in gold, is hand carved from agate, and features the profile of a Victorian gentleman, which is far less common than the ladies you usually see. I thought it might have been Shakespeare at first, but after some research on this piece, it is mid-Victorian (circa 1860). It would have been made in Italy as a keepsake of the journey there.

A cameo is a material that is carved with a raised relief that often depicts a profile of a face or a mythical scene. Cameos are commonly made out of shell, coral, stone, lava, or glass. Cameo jewellery has varying quality factors including the intricacy of the carving to the quality of the setting. This one would have been in the top range for its fine details.

Even though its original ornate gold surrounding setting has been removed and probably sold for scrap after the cameo was damaged (you can see a crack across the agate from his nose), the most important part of the piece (for me anyway) has survived.

The year is 1915, and Great Britain has been at war with the Kaiser for a year now. A young, newly minted Officer takes his sweetheart for a day trip to the seaside resort of Brighton before he is shipped out to the front. They wander the promenade and the shops of the town to distract themselves from their inevitable parting. She sees a pretty daisy setting diamond ring in the window of a Brighton jeweller’s shop. He walks in proudly, dressed in his smart new army khaki, and buys the ring for her. When he gives it to her, he asks her to promise to wear it until he comes home again. Knowing that there is a distinct chance that he may not come home, she calls her agreement to his request a “piecrust promise” – easily broken. However, as he slips it on to her finger, she agrees and tells him to keep himself safe and prove that his promise to return is not a piecrust promise either. That is the beginning of the true story for this ring. You will be pleased to hear that when hostilities ended in 1918, the young Officer did return to his sweetheart, and they did get married in 1920 and started a family. She held to her promise, and she wore this ring, which became known as the “piecrust promise ring”, until he came home, and then for a good many years after: her whole life in fact, which was a long and happy one with her husband, that young Officer.

The theme for "Looking Close on Friday" for the 27th of September is "gemstones". I have many pieces that I have access to that I could photograph for the theme, but I really wanted to share this dainty daisy setting ring of six winking diamonds set in platinum on an eighteen karat band, made in 1914, because it has a happy story associated with it. I hope you like my choice for this week’s theme, and that it makes you smile.

Edwardian jewellery is renowned for its delicate, beautifully crafted designs. In contrast to Victorian jewellery, many pieces created during the Art Nouveau period were made in a very feminine fashion, using finer smaller stones and very light settings made possible by using platinum.

(Private collection).

I have made some wonderful, extremely special and lasting friendships with certain people I have met through Flickr. Some I have been fortunate enough to meet in person, whilst others I have yet to have that pleasure, and yet I have the same affinity and closeness to them.

The title of this image today comes not from the colour of the bobbins I have used, but rather because of the beautiful cameo which features in my still life. The cameo brooch is very special to me because comes from one of the latter variety of my treasured Flickr friends - the ones I have yet to meet, but have an affinity with. I have never met her in person, but we bonded so easily and chat all the time. I treasure her friendship for the precious gift it is. Much was my surprise when one Christmas I received this gorgeous cameo from her as a gift. She knows that I love to wear lapel pins, and she thought I might like it, and indeed I do! I absolutely love it, and I have worn it many times since that Christmas Day when I opened the green, velvet lined box it comes in.

Set in gold, this cameo was a gift to my friend from her stepfather. The lovely cameo lady is, I believe, hand carved from translucent shell and the style of her places her anywhere between the 1920s and the 1960s, but I'd say she is in the earlier range because of the quality of the carving. Set in gold, she can be worn as I wear her, as a brooch, or as a pendant via a small loop discreetly added at the top just behind the band of gold, which is the other reason why I think she is more likely to be 20s.

I am so grateful to my dear, treasured friend, for thinking of me so fondly to have sent me such a precious and thought filled gift.

When it was last my birthday, another very dear friend who enjoys photography as much as I do, and knows that I collect beautiful and vintage pieces, gave me a wonderful selection of antique ribbons, buttons, buckles, lace and other fine notions. She also gave me three follow up tins of similar delightful gifts for Christmas.

Those wonderful gifts are what has inspired me to create this series of "Embroider my World" images featuring my vintage bobbin collection. In this case, the wonderfully creamy vintage lace from the 1930s comes from my own collection of antique notions, as does the French satin rose. I have accessorised them on a 1930s embroidered tablecloth with two unbranded bobbins of orange cotton, and the very special cameo brooch.

“We will have rings and things and fine array” – William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shew.

The theme for "Smile on Saturday" on the 2nd of March is "rings" - more particular finger rings. Luckily for me, I have a wonderful choice of rings to choose from, through the contents of my own jewellery box and those of friends, which left me with a plethora of pieces. My hardest decision was which one to choose. In the end I settled upon this wonderful Etruscan Revival finger ring made of eighteen carat gold, set with baguette turquoises and seed pearls in a most elaborate setting. In the later Georgian period archaeologists unearthed the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, finding within them, a trove of treasures from antiquity. The discoveries captured the imagination of the people of the British Empire and jewellers began to take note of the styles and designs coming from these ancient worlds. This included Etruscan style, which sparked an Etruscan Revival period in jewellery design. Victorian Britain in the 1830s, when this ring was made, was experiencing a period of great prosperity and innovations which allowed its jewellers access to a greater amount and variety of precious materials to work into their creations. New technology allowed them to work with these materials in ways never before seen, but the new discoveries in the remains of the Roman empire spurred many to use these resources to craft loving homages to the long dead artisans of ancient times. The Etruscan Revival created impressive arrangements of gold painstakingly engraved to create dazzling, timeless pieces. Made for a Victorian lady with a dainty hand, I can only slip this ring onto either of my little pinkie fingers. I hope you like my choice for this week’s theme and that it makes you smile.

“Jewellery is a very personal thing… it should tell a story about the person who’s wearing it.” – Garance Doré (French photographer, illustrator, author and fashion blogger).

Most of us are attracted to certain pieces of jewellery because of their aesthetic, and I am no different, however sometimes the jewellery has additional appeal because of its historical context or family connection, or sometimes the piece holds a secret quirk. In this photograph we have a homemade lucky silver sixpence brooch made up with a George VI sixpence and two thruppences from 1943. Whilst I don’t know the origins of this brooch, other than it came from a car boot sale in the late 1980s, I do know that a silver sixpence represents luck and prosperity in marriage. It was not uncommon for a bride during the Great Depression or the Second World War, when jewellery was a scarce luxury, to wear a lucky silver sixpence brooch made from coins of the day. I could imagine a war bride wearing this brooch and wishing for good luck, perhaps not only in her marriage, but in life as she and her new husband navigated the perils of a world at war. The second piece is an eighteen-carat yellow gold Victorian mourning brooch. Delicate and ornate, it has a central cartouche featuring a single small diamond. Besides its pleasing aesthetic, what is interesting about this brooch is that the central cartouche may be lifted and removed, revealing a small compartment where a small lock of a loved one’s hair may be kept: a secret known only to the wearer.

The theme for "Looking Close on Friday" on the 24th of November is "gold and silver (colour)", and what better way to create an image for the this theme than with two pieces of jewellery: a gold Victorian mourning brooch and a lucky silver sixpence brooch. I hope you like my choice for the theme and that it makes you smile!

“How small a thing is needed to make or ruin us!”― Guy de Maupassant, “The Necklace”

The theme for “Smile on Saturday” for the 10th of June is “portray a book title”, and the first title that sprung immediately to mind was not of a faerie tale as you might think, but that of the very first adult story I ever read: “The Necklace”, a novella written by French writer by Guy de Maupassant, which my Grandfather thought I might enjoy considering as a young teenager how much I loved jewellery. "The Necklace" is known for its twist ending, which was a hallmark of de Maupassant's style. The story was first published on 17 February 1884 in the French newspaper Le Gaulois.

Although the necklace in the novella is a diamond necklace, to portray the book title I have used one of my maternal Grandmother’s Mikimoto double strand pearl necklaces. There are other pieces of family jewellery from the Art Nouveau era in the jewellery box in keeping with the spirit of the age in which “The Necklace” is set. These pieces of family jewellery have survived the Great War, the Great Depression and Blitz of the Second World War, and have travelled all around the world to places like Paris, Madrid, Aden and Cairo: they have signs of wear and age, but my what stories they could tell!

I hope you like my choice for the theme this week, and that it makes you smile.

With the news we hear today, it is very easy to forget that for all the bad, the world is full of lovely surprises and kind people.

I have made some wonderful, extremely special and lasting friendships with certain people I have met through Flickr. Some I have been fortunate enough to meet in person, whilst others I have yet to have that pleasure, and yet I have the same affinity and closeness to them.

This beautiful cameo comes from one of the latter variety of my treasured Flickr friends. I have never met her in person, but we bonded so easily and chat all the time. I treasure her friendship for the precious gift it is. Much was my surprise when this Christmas I received this gorgeous cameo from her as a gift. She knows that I love to wear lapel pins, and she thought I might like it, and indeed I do! I absolutely love it, and I have already worn it several times since Christmas Day when I opened the green, velvet lined box it comes in.

Set in gold, this cameo was a gift to my friend from her stepfather. She is, I believe, hand carved from translucent shell and the style of her places her anywhere between the 1920s and the 1960s. Set in gold, she can be worn as I wear her, as a brooch, or as a pendant via a small loop discreetly added at the top just behind the band of gold.

I am so grateful to my dear, treasured friend, for thinking of me so fondly to have sent me such a precious and thought filled gift.

I decided to display her with two strands of my Grandmother\'s Mikimoto pearls from the 1930s.

I was inspired to take this photo by another Flick friend, hehaden, who recently uploaded an image of a cameo without its gold setting against a porcelain background. You can see it here www.flickr.com/photos/hellie55/52663746814/in/photostream/ or in the first comment below. I was so taken with the colours, that I decided to use a similar background with colours complimentary to the cameo. In this case it is an Eighteenth Century hand painted Japanese Kutani Ware plate that was given by my Great Aunt when I was fourteen years old and first started collecting decorative porcelain seriously. Thank you for inspiring me hehaden.

For its time this Arts and Crafts brooch, made in 1910 of eighteen karat gold with three seed pearls and three striking brilliant cut amethyst teardrops, was very avant-garde. Made in a timeless style, it would not look out of place on a woman’s lapel today, more than a century after it was made. Yet what you might not know is that this was more than a pretty bauble for a wealthy Edwardian woman to wear. It in fact has a meaning behind it, but you would need to have been part of the movement it represents at the time to know. This is a piece of Suffragette jewellery, and would have indicated not only that the women wearing it supported women’s suffrage, but was also a member of the Women’s Social and Political Union.

Suffragette jewellery either has direct links to women’s suffrage or pays tribute to the movement. The official colours of the Suffragettes were purple, white and green, and many items of Suffragette jewellery feature peridot, amethyst and diamond or pearls. The Women’s Social and Political Union chose white, purple and green as their member colours: white for purity, purple for dignity and green for hope.

Perhaps the original owner of this brooch wore it on a green jacket, or accessorised a piece of green ribbon with this brooch to complete the tricolour of the Women’s Social and Political Union.

(Private collection)

Edwardian jewellery is renowned for its delicate, beautifully crafted designs. In contrast to Victorian jewellery, many pieces created during the Art Nouveau period were made in a very feminine fashion, using finer smaller stones and very light settings made possible by using platinum.

The theme for “Looking Close on Friday” for the 28th of October is “(a touch of) gold”. I thought this beautiful piece of jewellery, and its symbolic meaning, was worthy of the theme this week. I hope that you like my choice and that it makes you smile.

The theme for “Looking Close on Friday” for the 27th of May is “blue and green”. This was a wonderful challenge as there were so many possibilities. I contemplated pieces of blue and green porcelain, blue and green glass, blue and green fabric, but in the end I settled on blue and green guilloché enamel. I chose an English guilloché enamel and sterling silver button made in 1911 and a French guilloché enamel and pearl gold stick pin. Guilloché is a decorative technique in which a very precise, intricate and repetitive pattern is mechanically engraved into an underlying material via engine turning, which uses a machine of the same name, also called a rose engine lathe. This mechanical technique improved on more time-consuming designs achieved by hand and allowed for greater delicacy, precision, and closeness of line, as well as greater speed. Translucent enamel was applied over guilloché metal by Peter Carl Fabergé on the Faberge eggs and other pieces from the 1880s. I hope you like my choice for the theme this week, and that it makes you smile.

This peacock blue guilloché enamel and sterling silver button was made in Birmingham by James Fenton and Company in 1911. It is one of six small buttons, two long hatpins and belt buckle, all made of silver with the same peacock blue guilloche enamel, presented in a blue leather presentation box with gilt tooling. James Fenton and Company, was a Birmingham silvermakers between 1854 and 1956. They were well known for their manufacture of silver and gold thimbles and later silver and enamel jewellery.

This French made Art Nouveau (circa 1905) lapel stick pin of flowers and leaves is made of 18 carat rose gold, and features seven seed pearls and six beautiful vibrant green guilloché enamel leaves on rose gold backings in a dainty filigree setting measuring just over a centimetre in diameter. With its curling foliage, it represents the delicate and elegant style of the Belle Epoque. The maker is unknown.

This gold, pearl and amethyst brooch features two particularly fine brilliant cut amethysts and nine seed pearls. It is Edwardian and with its Art Nouveau design, was made in the first decade of the twentieth century. It is very likely a brooch made for a suffragette, featuring two of the three universal suffrage colours of white and purple. It was possibly worn against something green as the representation of the final colour. Brooches and other jewellery like this was a subtle way for suffragettes to communicate their allegiance to the movement with one another.

(Private collection)

Edwardian jewellery is renowned for its delicate, beautifully crafted designs. In contrast to Victorian jewellery, many pieces created during the Art Nouveau period were made in a very feminine fashion, using finer smaller stones and very light settings made possible by using platinum.

The theme for “Looking Close on Friday” for the 18th of March is “jewellery (selective colour)”. I decided to select the purple of the amethysts as my selective colour, and accentuated it to draw out some of the blues that were created in the stone created by the black velvet on which the brooch sits. I hope you like my choice of the theme this week, and that it makes you smile.

This English made late Victorian (circa 1890 - 1900) brooch of a circlet of flowers and leaves is made of 18 carat gold and features sixteen seed pearls. You will notice that each flower is slightly different, which indicates that they have been made by hand, as has the detailing on each petal. With its curling foliage and flowers, it is very Art Nouveau in style.

Private collection

The theme for “Looking Close on Friday” for the 28th of January is “round in a vertical photo”. I thought that this elegant brooch against a black velvet background was the perfect choice. I do hope that you like it, and that it makes you smile.

Macro Mondays Theme is Pins.

A cameo is a material that is carved with a raised relief that often depicts a profile of a face or a mythical scene. Cameos are commonly made out of shell, coral, stone, lava, or glass. Cameo jewellery has varying quality factors including the intricacy of the carving to the quality of the setting.

The theme for “Smile on Saturday” this week is “carved artpieces”. I thought this delicately and expertly carved beautiful Italian cameo brooch from the 1830s meets the theme. This cameo, set in an ornate eighteen carat gold setting decorated with pearls, is carved from shell and features a typically classical female profile. Many cameos feature mythological figures. In this case it is a Bacchante maiden wearing grapes and grape leaves in her hair. She represents fertility. I think she is a beautiful work of art.

“The pearl is the queen of gems and the gem of queens.” – Grace Kelly.

My maternal Grandmother may not have been a queen, but in many respects, she was very much like Queen Elizabeth II. Only six years older than the Queen and being a young woman in the 1930s and 1940s, she felt all her adult life that she could never been seen in public without wearing her pearl necklace, a double strand of graduating cultured pearls with a platinum, diamond and pearl clasp given to her by her parents when she was twenty-one, and her cultured pearl clip earrings which she was given to her by her parents when she was eighteen.

The theme for “Looking Close… on Friday” for the 22nd of January “earrings”. I was originally going to submit a photo of some other family heirloom earrings in my possession, a pair of Regency ebony and ivory cameos I lovingly called Flora and Fauna when I was a child, but then I considered that I submitted them for the theme of “earrings” for the “Smile on Saturday” group last year. Instead, I have chosen these pearl earrings and necklace which remind me more of my maternal Grandmother than any other possessions of hers I own. These pieces of family jewellery have survived the Blitz and have travelled all around the world to places like Paris, Madrid, Aden and Cairo: they have signs of wear and age, but my what stories they could tell! These pearl earrings always make me smile and think of my maternal Grandmother, and the Queen. I hope that you like them too.

Originally part of a Regency parure (a set of jewels intended to be worn together) this brooch made in 1812 would almost certainly have been worn to the Brighton Pavilion at a ball held by the Prince Regent (the future George IV) as it features the three ostrich feathers of the Prince of Wales in the eighteen carat gold mount. This small detail may well have been intentional to flatter the Prince Regent, especially if it was worn around a lady’s revealing décolleté. However, like many things in the Regency era, not all is as it seems.

The large cabochon amethyst with its shades of purple and indigo is very striking. Yet if you look closely at the stone you will notice a zig zag lightning bolt running from the top, down. This is not a trick of the light or an addition I have made to the photo. It is a clue as to the truth behind this stone. It is not, in fact, an amethyst at all. It is, in actuality, a piece of foiled glass: glass with coloured foil hidden behind it in the mount to give it the appearance of a gemstone! The zig zag is a small crack in the foil onto which the glass is mounted, revealing a thin layer of protective silver behind the foil. During the Regency period in England, it was more important to look the part than for it necessarily to be so.

You might be disappointed by this fact or think that because it is a piece of glass with coloured foil in the back that it is not valuable. It is quite the contrary. Quality foiled jewellery of this age is actually very valuable. In fact, this brooch is worth significantly more than if there were a real cabochon amethyst mounted into it. Antique foil gemstones are worth as much as high quality diamonds!

Private collection.

This year the FFF+ Group have decided to have a weekly challenge called “Snap Happy”. A different theme chosen by a member of the group each week, and the image is to be posted on the Monday of the week.

This week the theme, “purple” was chosen by me!

I felt that this brooch was a perfect way to share the colour purple of the theme.

A cameo is a material that is carved with a raised relief that often depicts a profile of a face or a mythical scene. Cameos are commonly made out of shell, coral, stone, lava, or glass. Cameo jewelry has varying quality factors including the intricacy of the carving to the quality of the setting.

This cameo brooch is carved into shell and features the goddess of the moon, Selene. The ring, also carved from shell features the profile of Persephone, the goddess of vegetation, wife of Hades, ruler of the Underworld. Both pieces are mid-Victorian and are set in ornate eighteen carat gold settings. The brooch is deliberately surrounded in black because it is a mourning brooch.

The brooch has its provenance with it. Engraved on the back is “Hannah Lund Obt (died) August 2nd 1861 AD (aged 33).” Hannah Landless was born in Little Marsden in Lancashire around 1827 to parents William Landless (engineer) and Margaret nee McGruther. She was baptised on the first of April 1827. She married Thomas Lund at Burnley, Lancashire, in 1856. At the time of her death, she lived in Well Close Square, Berwick, Northumberland. She lived with her husband Thomas (26) and children Arthur (4), Thomas (2) and Hannah (1). Thomas did remarry, as was common of widowers with young children. He married Margaret Dickson Macintosh in 1865. They had four more children together. By 1871, Margaret was a widow at 37. Although the other children could not be traced due to their common names, Arthur served in the Royal Navy.

This year the FFF+ Group have decided to have a weekly challenge called “Snap Happy”. A different theme chosen by a member of the group each week, and the image is to be posted on the Monday of the week.

This week the theme, “pair” was chosen by Beverley, BlueberryAsh.

Although not related, or even made by the same makers or in the same year, I think this brooch and ring make a fine pair.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not a fan of selfies and I don’t much like my photograph being taken, from the front anyway. I am also very self-conscious and self-critical of my looks… it’s a long story with many chapters. However, there are a couple of things about my physicality that I do like. My eyes and eyelashes, and my hands. My eyes will vary from brown to green depending upon how I am feeling. My eyelashes always get comments about how long and thick they are, and people do ask me whether I wear mascara (which I don’t). My hands are my outlet for my creativity: drawing, sketching, designing, painting, beading, photographing, cooking, writing… the list goes on. I have a very slender hand and rather long and elegant fingers, perfect for peeping from beneath the cuff of a well cut pink shirt and for showing off the antique rings I love so much.

This weeks "Flickr Friday" theme is "self", and this now makes the third self portrait I have done using my eyes and my hands.

The original self portrait I submitted to the "Snap Happy" group for the theme "selfie" used one of my eyes, which appears in the right hand camera image. The second was for "Looking Close... on Friday!" where the theme was "eyes", where I took a second photo of my other eye to make a pair on a background of circles of my eyes. This time I have taken a photo of the second portrait using the first portrait to make a third portrait.

However, I have included some other clues about my taste for this image: the Regency ruby ring on my finger (a family heirloom), a pink striped shirt with blue polka dots (one of my favourites this season), and some Japanese print paper (I love Japanese prints and design).

All in all I think this makes a rather Surrealist self portrait of which I think might have made Salvador Dali a little jealous!

Made by a high end London jeweller, this Art Deco stick pin for a gentleman’s lapel, tie or cravat was the height of fashion in 1925 when it was created, and it wouldn’t look out of place in today’s modern world. It features eight large and sparking square cut sapphires and four small brilliant cut diamonds, set in a platinum mount.
(Private collection.)

This year the FFF+ Group have decided to have a weekly challenge called “Snap Happy”. A different theme chosen by a member of the group each week, and the image is to be posted on the Monday of the week.

This week the theme, “I spy with my little eye, something beginning with an S” was chosen by Laszlo, Laszlo Papinot.

This stick pin featuring sapphires seemed to fit the bill quite nicely.

Having been made it the middle years of the roaring 20s, it has a definite geometric design of the Art Deco movement.

Edwardian jewellery is renowned for its delicate, beautifully crafted designs. In contrast to Victorian jewellery, many pieces were made in a very feminine fashion, using finer smaller stones and very light settings made possible by using platinum.

This year the FFF+ Group have decided to have a weekly challenge called “Snap Happy”. A different theme chosen by a member of the group each week, and the image is to be posted on the Monday of the week.

This week the theme, “selfie” was chosen by Di, PhotosbyDi.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not a fan of selfies and I don’t much like my photograph being taken, from the front anyway. I am also very self-conscious and self-critical of my looks… it’s a long story with many chapters. However, there are a couple of things about my physicality that I do like. My eyes and eyelashes, and my hands. My eyes will vary from brown to green depending upon how I am feeling. My eyelashes always get comments about how long and thick they are, and people do ask me whether I wear mascara (which I don’t). My hands are my outlet for my creativity: drawing, sketching, designing, painting, beading, photographing, cooking, writing… the list goes on. I have a very slender hand and rather long and elegant fingers, perfect for peeping from beneath the cuff of a well cut pink shirt and for showing off the antique rings I love so much. Therefore I have created this rather Surrealist selfie for the “Snap Happy” theme which I think might have made Salvador Dali a little jealous!