|
Last week was an exploration of the USA’s WWI memorial rings for the children who went to war. With western sentimental gifting, two elements to discovering the most important symbols need to be at play. One is the geographic location of a culture and the other is the affluence of the culture.
In last week’s rings, the culture was affluent and highly patriotic. Sentimental and mourning jewels of the USA often utilize patriotic imagery and this still remains the case today.
Today’s ring is different, but speaks to similar values. When understanding British designs and the custom of gifting jewelry, the colonies that were further away from Britain represent the essential values of the United Kingdom, even though they did not have to.
Colonial jewelry, be it from South Africa, India or Australia cross pollinated the values, materials and designs of their local cultures and deviated away from the static designs of the British. Much of this created a higher value of sentimentality, especially when people would travel back from these locations and bring cultural curios back to Europe.
Australian jewelry of the 19th century blended the natural flora and fauna with British designs and this can be seen in the design of today’s ring. Made in Melbourne during a time of immense wealth, the ring features the ‘FORGET ME NOT’ message etched into the bezel. The ring itself is quite heavy, which many colonial Victorian jewels were, as the gold rush had propelled the city of Melbourne to become the second largest and most wealthy city in the world.
Sentimental jewels were created from much of the gold that was brought back into the city and its satellite towns, where jewelers would fashion these pieces into sweetheart tokens. Many of the early Australian jewels were gifted to ladies, but by the time that this ring was made, around c.1860s, people were becoming more established in a city that was rapidly growing.
Native Australia flora can be seen comprising the shoulders of the ring, while the ‘FORGET ME NOT’ is one of the more popular sentiments of British 19th century jewels.
From this cultural lens, the more important messages of sentimentality can be seen. A message that is told in one culture can easily translate back to Europe and this is important for many reasons. Primarily, the fashion of a culture is central to its behavioral system. When there is conformity in fashion and practice, there is a greater chance of building a culture. Identity, sentimentality and love are the glue that binds a culture, which makes analyzing the messages of jewelry internationally very important. In last week’s article, the USA rings spoke to pride of the family through patriotism. Here, the simple ‘FORGET ME NOT’ is a chaste and very Victorian message, but it speaks to the formality of social behavior that the Victorians were required to adhere to.
*Art of Mourning is an historical dissertation series based on memorial, mourning, sentimental jewels, and art in history. Created and written by Hayden Peters for over 17 years, Art of Mourning has been featured in museum installations, published journals, articles, and books, as well as television.
Learn more about Georgian mourning jewels at www.artofmourning.com
https://www.instagram.com/artofmourning/
https://www.patreon.com/artofmourning/posts
|
