Archive for Mourning Jewellery
Bog Oak – more black Victorian Jewellery
Posted by: | CommentsA bit about Bog Oak
From my postbag:
How about Bog Oak? I have a brooch that I think is. I’m not sure. Can you tell me a little about it? And maybe how to tell if bog oak is the material?
My Reply:
Bog Oak Jewellery
Bog Oak was popular in Victorian Antique Jewellery especially for a mourning piece. It was easier to find and work than Jet but cannot be polished as highly and the shapes achieved are much simpler. So Bog Oak jewas cheaper as the finished article. Bog oak jewellery remains cheaper than jet jewellery today. Bog Oak is the wood of Oak Trees that has long since fallen into peat bogs in Ireland and been preserved and become black in colour. You will often see it carved with Shamrock patterns and occasionally set with pearls.
How can you tell if it is bog oak? It is matt in appearance ( unlike jet which tens to be highly polished) and you can see a wood grain if you look carefully. None of the other materials popular in Victorian Mourning jewellery has the wood grain. Please take care not to get this material wet – just clean with a soft dry brush.
Vintage brooches – Collecting Mourning Jewellery
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- Georgian mourning brooch
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- mourning brooch
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- mourning pin
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- mourning locket brooch
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- mourning locket stick pin
In the Georgian and Victorian eras death at a relatively young age was much more common than it is nowadays and it was the fashion to remember departed loved ones by holding a lock of their hair in either a locket worn arround the neck or pinned to clothing as a brooch. These lockets were usually made of heavy gold filled construction. When they were worn as a brooch the loved ones hair was held in a central compartement which could be decorated around the edge with seed pearls, black enamel or the name of the person and something sentimental written.
Particulary sought after are mourining brooches which have information about the name and date of death of the loved ones. nowadays I regularly get asked for these lockets as the potential new owners want to replace the original hair with that of a beloved pet.
Here are a few genuine antique mourning brooches for you to see:
Victorian Gothic mourning locket gold filled hinged
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Here is a very special and unusual piece of Victorian Gothic mouring jewellery.Find out more or buy this Victorian locket from AntiquesAvenue
