Antique Wishbone Brooch with Seed Pearls in Gold, British, c. 1900

Make a Wish!

Antique Wishbone Brooch with Seed Pearls in Gold, British, c. 1900

€ 890.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Description

This description was automatically translated from German. If you have any questions about this piece of jewellery, we will be happy to help!

In the English-speaking world there is a custom: at a festive meal – often at Thanksgiving or Christmas – two people pull apart the fork-shaped fused clavicle of the turkey until it breaks. Whoever ends up with the larger piece may make a wish; hence the bone is called the “wishbone” or “merrythought”. The tradition can be traced back to the 17th century and soon made the wishbone a popular good-luck symbol – comparable to horseshoes or four-leaf clovers. In the Victorian era, the motif found its way into brooches, pendants and rings as part of the so-called “novelty jewellery”. In this piece of jewellery, too, we encounter such a wishbone – albeit in a refined form! The brooch is made of 15-carat yellow gold and set with 29 finely lustrous natural pearls. In this way, the piece combines a charming folk tradition with English goldsmithing – a talisman that might just make wishes come true in elegant style, without ever having to be broken! We date the brooch to around 1900. For comparison, we include a page from a 1904 catalogue of B. & H. B. Kent, Diamond Merchants and Jewellers of Toronto. This can also be viewed online and offered numerous variations on this theme to interested customers. Browse through the pages and you will find it fascinating to see how many different yet similar interpretations of this design idea were available at the time. We discovered this delightful brooch in the south of England.

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"Novelty jewellery" refers to a very special category of historical jewellery that shines not only through precious metal or gemstones, but also through inventiveness, wit and playful symbolism. The term comes from the English and means something like "novelty jewelry" or "original jewellery". It refers to pieces that deliberately break with expectations - be it through humorous motifs, surprising materials or mechanical refinements. Novelty jewelry was particularly popular in the 19th and early 20th century: brooches in the shape of scissors, spiders or pocket watches, tiny miniatures of everyday objects or sentimental messages of love that are only revealed at second glance.

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Size & Details

Make a Wish!

€ 890.00 ^*

Content 1 piece

Incl. VAT, Shipping

Our Promise

We want you to be 100% satisfied! For that reason, we examine, describe and photograph all of our jewellery with the utmost care.

You can rely on our years of experience in the trade and our expertise as a professional art historians for reviews of the antique jewellery. As a member of various trade organisations and the British Society of Jewellery Historians, we remain committed to the highest possible degree of accuracy. In our descriptions, we always also indicate any signs of age and defects and never hide them in our photos – this saves you from any unpleasant surprises when your package arrives.

Should you for some reason not be satisfied, please don’t hesitate to contact us so that we can find a solution together. In any case, you can return any article within one month and we will refund the full purchase price.

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