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.
