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.