Mourning Jewelry

New.................

Made from vintage pieces with a new twist on mourning jewelry.
                                                                      
                                                                                        

 

A great piece of jewelry

by Kathy Barrick

Kathy makes wonderful pieces using incredible antique and vintage

parts.....a good bit of which originally come from mourning or religious pieces.

 

 

 

This is an artist that is new to me,

Jeanette Janson..........

Again, an artist that seems to use lots of interesting bits to make

some intriquing jewelry.

 

Both of these artists have great blogs, that showcase

their many talents. 

 

I have provided a link to each on their name.

 

MOURNING RIBBONS

                                                                            

Victorian heart mourning ribbons from the estate of

Joan Munkacsi

 

 

Mourning ribbon

 

Abrahan Lincoln mourning ribbon

with gem sized portrait

 

 

Vintage I.O.O.F. mourning ribbon

 

 

 

Unidentified soldier in Union Infantry

Seargant's uniform and

black mourning ribbon.

 

 

 

Daguerreotype........Woman with mourning

ribbons on her wrists.

 

Mourning Ribbon

(a new example?)

 

 

Little girl in dress edged in black

wearing a mourning ribbon.

 

 

 

 

 

(all photos from Pinterest)

 

 

 

 

 

 

HERE LYES THE.....

BEAUTIFUL ART.................


                                                                              

 

OF........

 

 

KIM HEPWORTH

 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/inthecrystalpalace

MEMORY JUG

                                                                                  

 

 

(Gayle Hajek.....2013)

 

This memory jug has buttons collected over the years by my Grandmother,

my sister, as well as myself.

Remembering the many button collections I have rummaged thru

over the years, I also included some of the odds and ends that always seem to end up

 nesting right along side those buttons. For example......bobbins, snaps, garders, pins, etc.

Included also are various religious medals, parts of rosaries, crosses, and a small icon.

 

Downton Abbey .............

                                               

 IN MOURNING..............

                                                                                     

 

jet mourning necklace

 

 

Lady Mary in mourning after the death of her

fiance in the sinking of The Titanic.

(season one)

 

 

Black Victorian Mourning Jewelry.....

                                                    
A lot of the black victorian mourning jewelry is made of either vulcanite or gutta percha.


                                                                              

vulcanite mourning brooch

 

 

It can be hard to tell the two materials apart

and I admit I have a hard time .

 

Queen Victoria memorialized in a 1901 vulcanite brooch

 

 

A type of rubber, vulcanite is most commonly dark brown or black.

As a result in the mid and late 19th century, the hard

substance was used to imitate coral, tortoise shell and jet-

especially the latter, as dark pieces became more

popular especially with the prevelance

of mourning jewelry.

 

 

Mourning brooch made out of gutta percha,

(the hand was a popular motif) 

 

 

Mourning bracelet.......... gutta percha

 

 

Although the two substances strongly resemble each other,

vulcanite is a manufactured rubber and gutta percha is a natural latex

substance. It's also a black or near black rubber-like

gum derived from the resin of trees from Southeast Asia.

 

 

Antique mourning bracelet.......gutta percha

 

 

Both materials came to be used for mourning jewelry

as a substitute for the more expensive jet jewelry.

 

 

Hand and snake gutta percha mourning brooch.

 

 

Both vulcanite and gutta percha pieces are

almost always molded as opposed  to carved.

Vulcanites black color tends to fade over time with

repeated exposure to wearing and the light.

 

After looking at lots of examples of both..........

I still have a hard time telling one material from the other

and I suspect I am not alone as I have come across

many pieces labeled with both names.

I am sure an expert can easily tell though.

 

I did decide that I tend to gravitate towards the

pieces that have faded a bit to the browner side.

So maybe that means that I like vulcanite best?

But then I like the idea that gutta percha

is a natural material...........

 

 

A vulcanite piece that has faded a bit

towards brown.

 

 

Gutta percha photo frame

 

Although many people eventually put their

mourning clothes aside,

they often continued to wear their mourning

jewelry for the rest of their lives.

 

 

(all photos and information from internet) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                        

 

 

 

 

 

WAX DOLL.................

                                                                                    

 

Wax effigy of a deceased infant.

 

A popular practice among French and German immigrants

to America.

Locks of the deceased childs hair were attatched to the

head of the doll, and the dolls outfit

was created from the fabric of the

infants christening gown.

 

(source)

 

 

 

Not quite sure what I think of this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MOURNING PHOTOS

1970's thru 1980's............?

                                                                      

 

It was not unusual to hide your face in

some way in mourning photos

taken of that period.

 

 

 

 

 

 

She appears to be holding something

that documents her mourning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VICTORIAN..................

GLASS DOME............

                                                                              

 

French cemetery scene with hair from

Sophie Henry, deceased, age 21, (1881)

 

(collection of John Whitenight)

Primitive............

lovely........................

                                                                                        

(remembrance glass shadow box)

 

 

There are a lot of really beautiful mourning pieces out there

for you to see...........for me it is the simple heartfelt

ones like this that speak the loudest. 

Mourning necklace

                                                                                               

source

 

Mourning necklace containing a finger

bone from the deceased. 

                                                                          

OSSUARY

Coat of Arms................

 

Coat of Arms of

Schwatzenberg Family

in Sedlec Ossuary in

Kutna Hora, Czech Republic

 

Mourning Tributes...........

 

Hair saved  in a wonderful hand sewn pocket,

along with a newspaper clipping....

an obituary?

 

 

I thought these wire wreaths were amazing....

Corey Amaro shared these on her blog

Tongue In Cheek

 

MOURNING HAT

Lovely Beaver Top Hat.............
                    

 

With mourning ribbon on band

 

 

 

 

 

Mourning ribbon/Hair