JEWELS _and the_ WOMAN
_by Marianne_ OSTIER
JEWELS _and the_ WOMAN
_The Romance, Magic and Art of Feminine Adornment_
HORIZON PRESS _New York_
_Note_: For centuries it has been the custom for jewelers to identify
their designs by stamping their hallmark on jewels. The reproduction on
page 20 is of Marianne Ostier’s hallmark. _Unless otherwise noted in the
captions, jewels here reproduced have been designed by Marianne Ostier.
All jewels are illustrated in actual size, with the exception of the
portraits and Illustration 17._
* * * * *
_Credits and Acknowledgments_: The author wishes to thank all the people
who have given time, information and encouragement to the work on this
book. Particular thanks are due Mr. George D. Skinner of N. W. Ayer &
Son Inc. for supplying invaluable information; Miss Dorothy Dignam, of
the same firm, for her inspiring enthusiasm and knowledge; Mr. Lansford
F. King, publisher of the _Jewelers’ Circular Keystone_, for his endless
confidence in the work which made the completion of this book possible;
and Mr. Albert E. Haase, president of the Jewelry Industry Council, for
the many helpful facts from his special fund of knowledge.
For contributing to the visual quality of this book, grateful
acknowledgment is made to the Jewelry Industry Council for the
frontispiece colorplates; The Metropolitan Museum of Art for
Illustrations 1 through 8; the British Information Service for
Illustrations 11, 12 and 15; and Trude Fleischmann for Illustrations 28
and 29.
* * * * *
_©1958 by Marianne Ostier_
_Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 58-10224_
_Manufactured in the United States of America_
_All original designs as well as the text by Marianne Ostier are
protected by copyright and may not be copied or reproduced without
permission in writing from the author and publisher._
THE BIRTHSTONES
[Illustration: _Garnet_
JANUARY]
[Illustration: _Amethyst_
FEBRUARY]
[Illustration: _Aquamarine_
MARCH]
[Illustration: _Diamond_
APRIL]
[Illustration: _Emerald_
MAY]
[Illustration: _Pearl_
_Alexandrite_
JUNE]
[Illustration: _Ruby_
JULY]
[Illustration: _Peridot_
AUGUST]
[Illustration: _Sapphire_
SEPTEMBER]
[Illustration: _Opal_
_Tourmaline_
OCTOBER]
[Illustration: _Topaz_
NOVEMBER]
[Illustration: _Turquoise_
_Zircon_
DECEMBER]
_Contents_
_Foreword_ _17_
PART 1: _Jewels: History, Character, Magic_
_Chapter 1: The Story of Jewels_ _23_
THE EARLIEST USES 23 EGYPT AND THE NEAR EAST 26 WESTWARD TO
THE GREEKS 29 ETRUSCAN ACHIEVEMENTS 30 THE ROMAN CONQUEST
31 THE VOGUE OF THE PEARL 41 ROMAN LUXURY 42 THE TIDE TURNS
EAST 42 EASTWARD TO INDIA 43 OVER THE CHINESE WALL 44 DARK
AGE OF THE DIAMOND 45 TRIBES TO THE NORTH 45 THE CELTS AND
THE EMERALD ISLE 46 THE ANGLO-SAXONS 47 JEWELS IN ENGLISH
HISTORY 47 EDWARD THE CONFESSOR’S JEWELS 48 GROWTH OF
THE GOLDSMITHS’ GUILD 48 THE ITALIANS IN THE RENAISSANCE
49 THE RENAISSANCE ACROSS EUROPE 50 THE REFORMATION 51
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 52 ON THE ROMANTICS 53 INTO THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY 54 THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 55
_Chapter 2: What the Stones Are_ _57_
WHAT THE STONES ARE 57 THE GEMS 58 DIAMOND 58 RUBY 60
SAPPHIRE 62 EMERALD 63 PEARL 64 OTHER STONES 67 ALEXANDRITE
68 AMETHYST 68 AQUAMARINE 69 BERYL 69 CARNELIAN 70
CAT’S-EYE 70 CHALCEDONY 71 CHRYSOBERYL 71 CHRYSOLITE 71
CHRYSOPRASE 72 CITRINE 72 CORAL 72 GARNET 73 HYACINTH 74
JACINTH 74 JADE 74 JASPER 75 JET 75 KUNZITE 76 LAPIS LAZULI
76 MALACHITE 77 MOONSTONE 77 ONYX 77 OPAL 78 PERIDOT 79
QUARTZ 79 SARD 80 SARDONYX 80 SPINEL 80 TOPAZ 81 TOURMALINE
81 TURQUOISE 82 ZIRCON 82
_Chapter 3: Birthstones and the Magic of Gems_ _83_
THE SEASONS 83 THE DAYS OF THE WEEK 84 SUNDAY 84 MONDAY 84
TUESDAY 85 WEDNESDAY 85 THURSDAY 85 FRIDAY 86 SATURDAY 86
THE MONTHS 87 TABLE OF BIRTHSTONES 87 JANUARY—GARNET 88
FEBRUARY—AMETHYST 89 MARCH—AQUAMARINE 90 APRIL—DIAMOND 91
MAY—EMERALD 92 JUNE—PEARL 94 JULY—RUBY 96 AUGUST—SARDONYX
OR PERIDOT 97 SEPTEMBER—SAPPHIRE 99 OCTOBER—OPAL 100
NOVEMBER—TOPAZ 102 DECEMBER—TURQUOISE 104 SIGNS OF THE
STARS 113 THE ZODIAC 113 ARIES, THE RAM 114 TAURUS, THE
BULL 114 GEMINI, THE TWINS 115 CANCER, THE CRAB 115 LEO,
THE LION 115 VIRGO, THE VIRGIN 115 LIBRA, THE SCALES 116
SCORPIO, THE SCORPION 116 SAGITTARIUS, THE ARCHER 116
CAPRICORN, THE GOAT 116 AQUARIUS, THE WATER CARRIER 117
PISCES, THE FISHES 117
PART 2: _The Art of Feminine Adornment_
_Chapter 4: The Art of Feminine Adornment_ _121_
ROYAL CROWNS OF BRITAIN 122 EVERYWOMAN’S QUEEN 123 A
STONE’S BEST SETTING 123 TYPES OF WOMEN 124 THE MAJOR
METALS 125 THE BASIC DESIGNS 125
_Chapter 5: The Earclip_ _127_
THE SUPREME IMPORTANCE OF THE EARCLIP 127 EARRINGS THROUGH
THE AGES 127 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EARS 129 THE EARCLIP
AND THE FACIAL CONTOUR 130 THE SHAPE OF YOUR FACE 131
DETAILS OF THE FACE 132 VERSATILE EARCLIPS 133 THE HAIR
AND THE EARCLIP 133 THE BRUNETTE 134 THE DARK-HAIRED 134
THE REDHEAD 135 THE BLONDE 135 AS THE HAIR TURNS GREY 136
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS IN SELECTING EARCLIPS 136
_Chapter 6: The Necklace_ _139_
THE SYMBOLISM OF THE NECKLACE 139 THE GENERAL EFFECT 140
THE DIAMOND NECKLACE 141 THE RIVIÈRE 141 THE BAGUETTE
NECKLACE 142 THE PEARL NECKLACE 142 THE COLORS OF THE PEARL
143 FOR THE BRUNETTE 143 FOR THE BLONDE AND THE REDHEAD 144
FOR A LONG NECK 144 FOR A WIDE NECK 145 SIZE OF PEARLS 145
THE PROPER STRINGING OF PEARLS 145 THE NECKLACE CLASP 146
DESIGNS FOR CLASPS 146 FOR FORMAL WEAR 147 THE SENTIMENTAL
CLASP 148 FITTING THE PEARL NECKLACE 148 THE BEAD NECKLACE
149 FASHIONS FROM INDIA 149 OTHER NECKLACE JEWELS 150 THE
NECKLACE OF GOLD 151 APPENDAGES: THE TASSEL 152 APPENDAGES:
THE SINGLE DROP 152 TRANSFORMATIONS 153 MY OWN CONVERSIONS
153 WHAT A WOMAN WEARS, OTHERS SEE 154
_Chapter 7: The Ring_ _157_
THE GIVING OF A RING 157 CONSIDER THE HAND 158 PROPORTIONS
OF THE HAND 158 THE DIAMOND RING: THE ENGAGEMENT RING 159
THE WEDDING RING 160 THE WEARING OF THE BAND 161 THE PEARL
RING 162 THE BLACK PEARL 162 DECORATIVE RINGS 163 MATCHED
WITH EARCLIPS 164 INTERCHANGEABLE CENTERS 164 RING SIZES
165 RINGS AND NAIL POLISH 166 ABOUT WEARING A RING 166
_Chapter 8: The Bracelet_ _169_
EARLY USES 169 THE EMPERORS OF INDIA 169 VARIOUS MATERIALS
170 TYPES OF BRACELETS 170 FAVORITE SHAPES 171 THE SPECIAL
CLASP 171 BRACELET WIDTH 172 FOR THE SLIM ARM 172 FOR THE
HEAVIER WRIST 172 FITTING A BRACELET 173 GENERAL THOUGHTS
173 THE ANKLET 174
_Chapter 9: Pins, Brooches and Clips_ _175_
ELABORATE PINS 175 THE SIMPLER CLIP 176 ITS VERSATILITY
176 ITS PERSONALITY 185 THE CHANGE IN THE BROOCH 185 THE
OLD DOUBLE CLIP 186 THE NEW DOUBLE CLIP 187 THE ABSTRACT
DESIGN 187 THE FLOWER DESIGN 188 EARLIER FLOWERS 189
CURRENT VARIETIES 190 THE ROSE 190 THE SKINPIN 191 THE
SCATTERPIN 191 THE JEWELLED HAIRPIN 192 THE MOBILE CLIP 192
THE SENTIMENTAL BROOCH 193 REPLICAS OF PETS 194 PINS HOLD
MEMORIES 194 PRACTICAL PRINCIPLES 195
_Chapter 10: Watches_ _197_
QUEEN ELIZABETH I 197 PRINCESS SOPHIA 197 EARLY FORMS 198
WHERE TO WEAR THE WATCH 199 JEWELLED HOURS 200 IN FRONT OF
YOUR MIRROR 202
PART 3: _The Etiquette of Wearing Jewels_
_Chapter 11: The Etiquette of Wearing Jewels_ _207_
EN ROUTE 208 WEEKEND 208 GARDEN PARTY 209 THE BEACH 209
ON THE GOLF COURSE 210 AT THE RACES 210 BUSINESS LUNCHEONS
211 THE CHARITY LUNCHEON 212 OPENING NIGHT 212 MATCHING
THE GOWN 213 MATCHING THE MAN 213 SOME BASIC RULES 214 THE
DINNER PARTY 215 THE WATCH 216 THE CIGARETTE CASE 216 THE
HOSTESS 216 AT THE WHITE HOUSE 217 THE PRESIDENT’S DINNER
218 THE CAPTAIN’S DINNER 218 EMBASSY PARTIES 220 MEETING
ROYALTY 221 CORONATION 221 A QUEEN’S CROWN 222 WHEN EVERY
WOMAN IS QUEEN 223 THE BRIDESMAIDS 224 THE MOTHER OF THE
BRIDE 225 THE WEDDING GUESTS 225 THE NEWBORN 226 THE
ANNIVERSARY 227 TABLE OF ANNIVERSARY GIFTS 227 THE MORE
SOLEMN TIME 228 AUDIENCE WITH THE POPE 229 IN MOURNING 229
OTHER OBSERVATIONS 230 COLOR COMBINATIONS 230 RESTRAINT 230
EYEGLASSES 231 THE LORGNETTE 231 THE CORSAGE 232 EMBROIDERY
232 MORE ABOUT BRACELETS 232 MORE ABOUT RINGS 234 GOLD
JEWELS 234 IN THE SPOTLIGHT 234
_Chapter 12: Jewels as Gifts_ _237_
GIVE YOURSELF 237 GIFTS OF LASTING VALUE 238 GIFTS TO THE
BABY 238 TO THE MOTHER TOO 239 AS THE CHILD GROWS 239 ST.
VALENTINE’S DAY 239 COLLEGE DAYS 240 THE WEDDING DAY 240
FOR THE BRIDESMAIDS 241 FOR THE USHERS 241 OTHER GIFTS
TO THE BRIDE 242 PARENTS’ DAYS 242 FOR LATER BIRTHDAYS
243 GIFTS FOR THE MAN 244 THE WIFE’S ROLE 244 THE RIGHT
ACCESSORIES 245 THE PERSONAL TOUCH 245 SPECIAL GIFTS 246
HISTORIC GIFTS 246 THE PRESENTATION OF A GIFT 247
PART 4: _The Techniques and Care of Jewels_
_Chapter 13: The Techniques of Gems_ _259_
DEFINITIONS 259 LIGHT ON THE STONES 260 STAR GEMS 260 THE
PEARL 261 CUTTING THE STONES 261 CABOCHON 262 FACETS 262
TYPES OF FACETING 263 HARDNESS OF THE STONES 264 QUALITIES
OF A STONE 267 MEASUREMENT 268 THE PRECIOUS METALS 268
ALLOYS 269
_Chapter 14: The Care of Jewels_ _271_
HOW TO CARE FOR JEWELS 271 HOME CARE 271 CLEANING DON’TS 272
PEARLS 272 REMINDERS 273 MORE CAUTIONING 274 FOR TRAVEL 274
INSURANCE 275 THE TRAVELING CASE 275 REGISTERING JEWELS 276
TRAVELING CAUTIONS 277
_Chapter 15: Jewelry Up to Date_ _279_
THE OLD AND THE ANTIQUE 279 OLD JEWELRY WITH NEW
POSSIBILITIES 280 THE CONTEMPORARY JEWELS 281 MODERN
MOVEMENT 281 THE JEWELER AS ARTIST 283 VARIED STONES 283
VARIED TREATMENT 284 REMODELLING OF WATCHES 285 ADDING
PEARLS 285 INFINITE RICHES IN A LITTLE ROOM 286
PART 5: _The Story of Rings and Famous Stones_
_Chapter 16: Romance of Rings_ _289_
THE UNIVERSAL RING 289 THE MAGIC RING 289 DIVINING RINGS
290 RENAISSANCE REMEDY RINGS 291 VISIBILITY RINGS 292
RELIGIOUS RINGS 293 PRACTICAL RINGS 294 POISON RINGS 295
HONORARY RINGS 296 POSIES AND LOVERS’ RINGS 296 THE NUPTIAL
RING 298 LESS SOLEMN MARRIAGE RINGS 299 COUNTING FINGERS
301 MEMORIAL RINGS 302
_Chapter 17: Some Famous Stones_ _305_
THE BLACK PRINCE’S RUBY 305 OTHER PRECIOUS STONES 306
THE CRYSTAL PALACE 307 THE DIAMONDS 307 THE KOHINOOR 308
TAVERNIER 310 THE FLORENTINE 310 THE GREAT MOGUL 311 THE
ORLOFF 311 THE SHAH OF PERSIA 312 THE GREAT TABLE 313 THE
BLUE TAVERNIER 313 THE HOPE 314 THE JEHAN AKBAR SHAH 315
THE CULLINAN 315 THE EXCELSIOR 316 THE REGENT 316 THE SANCY
318 OUT OF THE EARTH 319
_List of Illustrations_
_Frontispiece_
THE BIRTHSTONES, COLORPLATES
_Following Page 32_
1. GREEK EARRINGS, 5TH CENTURY B.C.
2. CYPRIOTE PENDANT, 8TH CENTURY B.C.
3. EARLY 18TH CENTURY ITALIAN BROOCH
4. EGYPTIAN BRACELET, 4TH CENTURY B.C.
5. ETRUSCAN RING
6. 18TH CENTURY ITALIAN RING
7. CYPRIOTE RING
8. ROMAN WREATH, 3RD CENTURY B.C.
9. INSIDE VIEW OF THE FAMOUS OLD TIFFANY STORE, NEW YORK, 1875
10. THE CROWNING OF A QUEEN
11. THE BRITISH CROWN JEWELS
12. THE BRITISH CROWN JEWELS
13. REMODELLING THE IMPERIAL STATE CROWN
14. EMPRESS ELISABETH OF AUSTRIA
_Following Page 104_
15. QUEEN ELIZABETH II
16. PEARL AND BAGUETTE DIAMOND EARCLIPS
17. DEEP SEA ALGAE
18. DOUBLE ROSE CLIP
19. DIAMOND AND PEARL LEAVES
20. PEARL AND DIAMOND NECKLACE
21. PEARL RING
22. QUEEN GERALDINE OF ALBANIA
23. DIAMOND NECKLACE
24. DIAMONDS CAUGHT IN A NET
25. NECKLACE FOR A BRIDE
26. DIAMOND PINCUSHION ORNAMENT
27. DIAMOND PINCUSHION ORNAMENT
28. MARIANNE OSTIER
_Following Page 176_
29. MRS. FREDERIC GIMBEL
30. BELLFLOWER BROOCH AND EARCLIPS
31. BRACELET AND ENGAGEMENT RING
32. DESIGN FOR A DIAMOND RING
33. DESIGN FOR A GOLD RING
34. DESIGN FOR A FORMAL DIAMOND AND PLATINUM BRACELET
35. DIAMOND AND PEARL BRACELET
36. DESIGN FOR A BRACELET
37. TREE OF LIFE
38. DESIGN FOR A MULTI-PURPOSE JEWEL
39. AURORA BOREALIS
40. FLOWER FANTASY
41. DIAMOND HAIR ORNAMENT
42. THREE-STRAND PEARL BRACELET
43. MISS BLANCHE THEBOM
44. CANTERBURY BELL
45. GOLD SHELL FOR INFORMAL WEAR
46. FLOWER LAPEL BROOCH
47. MRS. TEX MC CRARY
_Following Page 256_
48. PORTRAIT OF H. H. INDIRA DEVI
49. SPRAY PIN DESIGN
50. DESIGN FOR A DIAMOND CUP
51. DESIGN FOR A DOUBLE CLIP
52. DESIGN FOR A GOLD AND DIAMOND PIN
53. PORTRAIT OF FLIPPY
54. FLORIAN
55. SET OF EARCLIPS AND BROOCH
56. GOLD AND DIAMOND WATCH
57. PEARL NECKLACE WITH TWO DIAMOND MOTIFS
58. TABLE OF DIAMONDS
59. MODELS OF THE KOHINOOR DIAMOND
60. GOLD CIGAR BOX
_Foreword_
“Diamonds,” the song goes, “are a girl’s best friend.” Take special note
of the sex; it is significant. For only among humans has the female
increasingly become the adorned sex. The mane of the lion or of the
stallion gives the male a magnificence beyond the competence of the
lioness or the mare. It is the peacock that spreads the studded glory
of its tail—not the peahen. As among the birds and beasts, so primitive
man was the resplendent sex, while his mate went about her task, in more
subdued and humble tones. By the time of the Renaissance—it took that
long in civilization’s climb—men and women were about equal in their
adornment. In Europe, indeed, only men wore diamonds until 1444, when
King Charles VII of France (whom Joan of Arc had placed upon the throne)
was captivated by Agnes Sorel’s beauty and daring, when she appeared in a
superb necklace of diamonds. The diamond at once became the prized gem of
womankind.
The costumes and jewels of the courtiers of Elizabeth I of England were
surpassed by those of the Queen only in the measure of her superior
station. Since then, however, the attire of men has grown increasingly
functional, sedate, and commonplace, while that of women has retained its
freedom of color and flow. And the great world of jewelry is preeminently
the woman’s domain.
Scientists in several fields have sought the reasons for this change; we
may rest content with the fact. A man may be thought distinguished, or
perhaps handsome; only a woman may be called beautiful. And by proper
adornment of apparel and jewelry, every woman seeks to enhance her beauty.
Certain austere sects frown upon “artificial” aids to beauty. In the
hills of Pennsylvania are honest women whose lips and cheeks have never
been touched by added color. But such persons are outside the main path
of human progress. For the quest of beauty—surely a legitimate and a
desirable quest—has taken the same path as the other great adventures of
man, which have placed him supreme among all living creatures.
Look at the problem of security. The bear can strike a tremendous blow
with his paw. The tiger springs with fierce gash of fang and claw. The
eagle pounces with deadly talon and beak. Beside these, how puny the fist
of man! But the bear, the tiger, the eagle remain with but these weapons,
while man closed his tiny hand around a club, then hurled a spear, then
winged his bow with arrows, shot forth his bullets and his bombs. While
the animals mark a dead end of evolution, man continued to evolve by
“artificial” extensions of his powers.
The same is true in every field. The news of the victory of Marathon was
borne by a runner, who coursed the twenty-four miles, gasped out his
word of triumph, and dropped dead. Since then man has harnessed the ox,
mounted the horse, and surpassed all other creatures in means of travel
upon and within the waters, across the earth, high and higher in the air.
So in the realm of beauty. First man painted his naked body. Then he
adorned himself with claws and teeth torn from the animals, with feathers
plucked from the birds. Soon he discovered the sheen of precious metals,
the sparkle of gems. The progress of adornment, from ancient Egypt to
the twentieth century world, has been marked by the further discovery
and refinement of metals and the design of jewels. Synthetic gems and
costume jewelry have given to every woman opportunities once limited
to the wealthy few; the principles applicable to the wearing of costly
jewels are the same for their less expensive cousins. And the pattern of
the quest of personal beauty is in line with the general pattern of human
evolution.
Although we have approached beauty through these somewhat solemn
reflections, we must not forget that the best reflection of beauty is in
the admiring eye of the beholder. It is a mutual pleasure; but it is a
personal, an individual task. For it is every woman’s duty—not merely to
herself but to those around—to present her fairest aspect to the world.
To the old remark: Love is blind, the cynic has added: But marriage is an
eye-opener. Of course, neither statement is true. While love may fasten
upon and prize other qualities, the lover is usually keenly aware of the
measure of his beloved’s beauty. He takes increasing pride and pleasure
as she finds fresh ways of enhancing her natural gifts. There is a lesson
hidden in the statement that if a woman is beautiful at fifteen she may
thank God, but if she is beautiful at fifty she has herself to thank. The
lesson is that a woman can learn what is seemly, what is becoming, what
adds to her beauty.
One may look at precious stones and magnificent jewels ranged in a museum
or in a store. When they are being worn, we look not so much at them
as at the ensemble they help to create of a live alluring woman. The
Crown Jewels in the Tower of London are imposing. When they are worn
on occasions of state, the court regalia combine to keep them imposing
still: it is less a person than a position that they adorn. But with the
rest of us mortals, as even with queens in less stately hours, the jewels
must fit the person and the personality, as well as the occasion.
What looks most attractive against the dark velvet on a counter may fail
to harmonize with golden glinting hair. The size of the earlobe, the
figure of the woman, the color of the dress, the activity of the evening,
all are factors in determining which jewels one should wear. Jewels have
a long history, but always an immediate test of use. In both aspects,
they hold an ever present allure.
MARIANNE OSTIER
[Illustration]
PART ONE
[Illustration]
_Jewels: History, Character, Magic_
CHAPTER 1
_The Story of Jewels_
_The Earliest Uses_
There are as many guesses about the origin of adornment as about the
origin of language. The most popular theories might be called the
functional, the magical, and the aesthetic.
When man first felt cold, says the functional theory—or when he first
felt shame and hid his shame with the fig leaf—he had to find some
way of fastening his garments. The leaves, the furs, the hides, would
slip off unless adequately held together, especially when the man was
running in swift hunt, or the woman bending under domestic burdens.
The first fastenings were probably strands of vinestalks, lashes of
interlaced leaves. Then pins made of long thorns, of wood, or of the
bones of animals came into use. Pins of the last sort have been found
in prehistoric caves. Naturally, iron, bronze, silver and gold pins
followed, as the use of these metals became known. Crude safety pins, in
form essentially the same as those we use today, have been unearthed in
the most ancient tombs.
The transition from bone to metal may be observed in the word _fibula_,
the early Latin word for a clasp. For the long outer leg bone is also
called the fibula, and it looks like the tongue of a clasp, for which the
other bone, the tibia, is the holder. And the word _fibula_ comes from
the Latin verb _fivere_, meaning to fasten.
On even the earliest pins, however, and especially on the domed backs
of safety pins and clasps, there are curious carvings of dots and
circles and other forms, which give scope to the second theory of the
origin of adornment, the magical. For along with these fasteners are
found necklaces of beads and other adornments that served no practical
end—except the very important purpose of placating the gods, of warding
off evil.
The telling of rosary beads, widespread today in Moslem as in Catholic
lands, is a milder modern aid to prayer; in primitive times the need for
protection was no less frequent and more desperate. Those of us who carry
a rabbit’s foot or other charm, who put an amulet in our automobile to
help us drive safely, who still “knock wood” to keep away mischance, need
not smile at our far-off ancestors who engraved their beads with potent
symbols or wore a scarab, preferably carved of precious stone, to keep
all ills away. Charms and amulets were on every neck and arm. The devils
were all about; they whirled in the tempest; they sprang suddenly in the
form of a wild beast; they twisted one’s ankle as a jungle vine. And
every stone-age child knew that the agate protected one against thunder
and against tiger bite. If the agate was ringed like an eye, especially a
tiger’s eye, it could outstare and drive away the fiercest fiend. To turn
away the fangs of the venomous hidden snake, what better charm than lapis
lazuli? Thus each of the colored stones known to the ancients had its
special powers, or could be carved with symbols and signs of might—and
jewels were worn to ward off all misfortune. Even among the ancient
Greeks, it was recognized that (as the slave in Aristophanes’ play
_Plutus_ observes) there is no amulet that can save one from “the bite of
a sycophant.”
The third theory of the origin of adornment, the aesthetic, declares that
man is born with a love of beauty. There is no question—and if there
were, modern research has answered it—that the bright trinket attracts
the babe. When one is happy one wants to sing; when one sees beauty, one
wants to experience it with the gift of sight or, if it is tangible, to
put it on. And ever to increase earth’s store of beauty. We cannot snare
a sunrise, but we can make a garland of spring flowers. Even before he
fashioned beads, primitive man adorned himself with necklaces of shells,
of bears’ claws, stags’ teeth—probably also of many colored berries,
but these have crumbled in the caves. Such findings are so widespread
that Carlyle declared: “The first spiritual want of a barbarous man is
decoration.”
Since the question of origins is buried in surmise, it seems fair to
follow that eminent advocate of the middle way, Sir Roger de Coverley,
and allow that there is something to be said for all three theories. Each
impulse, to hold up clothing, to ward off evil, to enjoy beauty—power,
protection, pleasure—may have had a share in the birth of adornment. It
is true that there are paintings and statues, in the early tombs, of
women clad only in their jewels. But while queens, and the concubines of
kings might be thus untrammeled in their quest of beauty, humbler folk at
work needed workaday attire. And always the magicians, the medicine men,
then the priests, wove their holy spells, with mitre and chalice and ring
inscribed with the secret words of power. A monarch of early times was an
impressive sight, as not only his rings, his armlets and neckpiece, but
his breastplate, the buckle of his belt, and the hilt of his sword were
carved with sacred symbols and crusted with precious stones. Here were
protection, power, and grandeur intertwined.
Perhaps the earliest jewelry to which we can attach an owner’s name was
in the find unearthed in 1901 by Flinders Petrie in the royal tombs at
Abydos. It is a bracelet of golden hawks, rising from alternate blocks
of turquoise and gold, and it belonged to the Egyptian Queen of Zer
back in 5400 B.C. Somewhat later lived the Princess Knumit, whose mummy
was adorned with all manner of jewels, anklets, bracelets, armlets,
headbands, including a serpent necklace of beads of gold, silver,
carnelian, lapis lazuli, and emerald, and hieroglyphics wrought in gold
with inlaid gems. From Chaldea, as early as 3000 B.C., we have beads, and
jewelry of lapis lazuli, and headdresses of finely beaten gold.
_Egypt and the Near East_
A panel in one of the pyramids gives us a realistic picture of the
interior of a jeweler’s shop of long ago. The master craftsman, his
bookkeeper, his workers and his apprentices are all busy at their tasks.
We see them selecting, cutting, grinding, firing, shaping, setting,
polishing, with tools that have changed little in 3000 years. The jewels
we know today are all present there: diadems, earrings, brooches,
bracelets, rings, girdles, anklets. The necklace seems to have been, in
most cases, a wide tight band, almost a collar; on many a mummy such a
“choker” has been preserved, studded with jewels, the gold between often
in the shape of a falcon, or a lotus, or a sphinx. Favorite among the
designs, of course, was the scarab; in the mummy itself, a scarab was
inserted to take the place of the heart.
Two ornaments common in ancient Egypt are not found in use today. One
is the pectoral, a great bejeweled breastpiece, usually hung from the
neck. The other is the golden wig cover. The great men and women of the
eighteenth century B.C. wore long black wigs (in contrast to the great
men of the eighteenth century A.D.; George Washington’s inaugural wig,
was, of course, powdered white). Close-fitting over these black wigs
were joined rows of gold bands or medallions, beaten fine, fastened
together, forming a complete cover that reached to the shoulders. The
bands bore hieroglyphics, the medallions were usually shaped like
heads of man or beast. One other difference from later times: for the
snuffbox of the eighteenth century A.D., or the cigarette lighter of the
twentieth, society folk in ancient Egypt carried a perfume box.
The Egyptians had many rings, including signet rings. These were
intaglios; that is, the design was cut into, hollowed out of, the metal
or stone, so that when the ring was pressed on clay or wax it would
leave a raised design like a cameo. The design might be a god, or a
sacred animal such as a scarab or a sphinx, usually with an indication
of the identity of the owner. Thus the King’s seal, and especially the
King’s signet ring if borne by a messenger, carried the royal authority.
Jezebel, wife of Ahab, King of the Israelites, used the seal of her royal
spouse on the letters she wrote to destroy Naboth, whose vineyard they
coveted.
The Israelites, indeed, wore rings on their fingers, in their nostrils,
in their ears, and we are told that when they walked there was a tinkling
about their feet. They also wore a gem pressed into the soft side of the
nostril, a favorite spot for display through the Near East, still adorned
by a gem among the Bedouins and the Hindus of today. The Israelites gave
of these jewels in great quantity to adorn the Tabernacle that was built
in the wilderness—and also for the making of the Golden Calf.
Legend has it that Solomon’s wisdom emanated from a magic ring. One day
he carelessly left this ring behind him at the bath, and with the water
of his bath it was thrown into the sea. Solomon retained enough wisdom to
suspend his legal court for forty days, after which the ring came back to
him in the stomach of a fish served at his table. A similar story of a
jewel returned in the belly of a fish is told by Polycrates, tyrant of
Samos in 530 B.C. Like stories occur in _The Thousand and One Nights_;
and the coat of arms of the city of Glasgow contains a salmon with a ring
in its mouth, memorializing the occasion when St. Kentigern from the
fish’s mouth restored to an early queen her ring and her reputation.
Oriental tales have many accounts of magic rings. One of the most
elaborate deals with Gyges, a Lydian noble to whom King Candaules, proud
of the possession of a beautiful wife, displayed her in her undraped
beauty. The resourceful Gyges descended into a chasm of the earth, where
he found a brazen horse with a human carcass in its belly. From the
body Gyges took a ring which, when he turned the stone inward, made him
invisible. Thus fortified, Gyges entered the palace and murdered the
king. The widow, Nyssia, married him; he reigned thirty-eight years, from
716 to 678 B.C., with the help of the ring becoming so powerful and so
rich that men spoke proverbially of “the wealth of Gyges.”
Another ring, as remembered by Chaucer in _The Squire’s Tale_, gave a
man the power to understand the language of the birds. The reader may
remember that the messenger between King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba
was a bird that whispered in their ears. We gather such stories from
early days literally through a fabulous thousand and one nights.
Although jewelry was a preeminent concern of the Egyptians, because they
must be adorned not only in this world but in the next, it was a lively
preoccupation throughout the Near East, the cradle of civilization.
Babylonian and Assyrian tombs yield treasures in splendidly mounted
jewels. A description of the goddess Ishtar, descending through the Seven
Gates to the ultimate world, pictures her at each gate putting aside a
separate jewel, finger rings, toe rings, necklace, earrings, armlet,
brooch, girdle: she passes through the final gate in unadorned beauty.
Among the jewels of ancient Persia, from the fourth century B.C., is a
great necklace of three rows of pearls, almost 500 pearls in all, half of
them still well preserved across the flight of twenty-five centuries.
_Westward to the Greeks_
There exist some examples of Greek art in early times. A gold and
silver brooch in the form of a flower may have been shaped about 1400
B.C. Perhaps 500 years later, by the time of the Trojan War, there were
inlays, intaglios, even small plaques of gold with hooks to fit the ear.
In the fifth century, when the great dramatists filled the theatres,
Greek lapidaries were making filigree and enamels of fruit and flowers—a
bit later, of the fair feminine form. By this time, too, the Greeks were
copying the designs they saw on, or bought from, Egyptian and Phoenician
traders; the sphinx and the scarab appear in Hellenic workmanship.
Originators are held by their new problems to a sort of modesty in
design. Imitators often—striving to outdo—overdo. The Greeks grew far
more elaborate than their predecessors. The great Greek sculptors were
delighted with the human figure which posed sufficient problems, either
bare or simply draped. But outside of statuary, and after the great fifth
and fourth centuries, the wealthy Greeks in their ways of life had caught
the fever of display. Their jewelry must surpass that of the eastern
barbarians to whom they were bringing the benefits of Greek culture. From
every medallion of a necklace, for example, might hang a pendant. And
this pendant might be a tiny golden vase, which contained perfume—each
vase a different fragrance—or which might open to reveal a series of
figures—as, later, baroque rosary beads opened to reveal, in minute
carving, episodes in the life of the Virgin Mary.
A portrait of Alexander the Great was a favorite figure, in many
materials and forms. Although Alexander gave one artist exclusive right
to reproduce his likeness after his death, as this monopoly lapsed there
was a boom on “good luck” jeweled representations of the man who wept
because there were no more worlds for him to conquer.
The Greeks did not ape all the antics of the Phoenicians, some of whose
high-born ladies pierced the entire rim of their ears, as well as the
lobe, each jewel in its eyelet supporting a pendant stone. The Greeks
used but one ornament per ear; but these grew larger and larger, more and
more weighted with metal and studded with jewels, and so were finally
worn suspended from a diadem or a cloth band.
Alexander’s conquests having taken the Greeks into farther lands and
introduced them to unsuspected splendors of the Orient, they carried home
gems that before had been unfamiliar to them: the topaz, the amethyst,
the aquamarine.
_Etruscan Achievements_
In Italy, meanwhile, the Etruscans had brought the work of the goldsmith
and the lapidary to a high peak of artistry. They developed the swivel
ring, in which the mounted gem or special charm might be turned about, so
that any face of it could be displayed. Thus the carvings on the belly of
a scarab became as important as the design on its back.
The Etruscans also made circular or oval bands of earrings and necklaces,
within which a pendant might hang free, a gently swinging precious stone
or golden charm. From their necklaces often hung a hollow pendant, in
which an amulet might be placed. They made many headpieces, bands,
wreaths, and pins of beaten or granulated gold.
Especially deft was the work of the Etruscans in granulated gold.
Onto a metal surface they soldered tiny specks of gold, almost as
fine as powder, producing the effect of a rich grain. The artistry of
the Etruscan work was so superb that when it was recovered during the
Renaissance, Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571), the greatest goldsmith of his
time, despaired of making successful copies of the Etruscan pieces and
decided to shape designs of his own devising, “inferior as they may be.”
_The Roman Conquest_
The whole Etruscan civilization gave way before the splendor that was
Rome. Home from their conquests the Romans brought great stores of
jewels, treasures of the Orient. Before the crowding and gaping throngs
of the imperial city, the “triumphs” of their rulers marched for hours
through the streets of Rome, while foreign potentates pulled chariots
bearing their conquerors and carts with the loot of their palaces. At
Pompey’s third triumph, in addition to countless gold and silver cases
bestudded with gems, there were three dining-couches adorned with pearls,
and a great chessboard, three feet by four, wrought of two precious
stones, with a golden moon, weighing thirty pounds.
The Romans also brought home artisans, metal workers and jewelers, from
whom after a time the natives learned their craft. Again we find the
victors trying to outdo the vanquished whom they naturally despised. The
adornments of men and women grew more and more massive. Women’s hairpins
were eight and ten inches long. Rings were worn upon every finger. Great
thumb rings were set with jewels or made of gold in various designs,
especially the heads of animals. Some of the bands of gold were very
large but hollow; down the ages echo complaints that, in accident or
brawl, a golden ring was crushed. The wealthy, of course, insisted on
rings of solid gold. These became so heavy that some had to be worn
in cold weather only, lighter ones being designed for summer wear. A
specialty among the patricians came to be the key ring, a golden band
with the key devised to lie flat along the finger, thus keeping with the
master the safety of his treasures. Often a large iron key ring was worn
by the chief steward of an estate; this opened the strongbox, which might
hold the dinner plate and other daily valuables, and within a recess of
which nestled the treasure chest of the golden key.
So great was the jeweled extravagance of the late Republic that Cato
the Censor (234-149 B.C.) sought by legislation to limit the amount of
jewelry one might wear. He also restricted the use of metal in rings,
assigning iron, silver, or gold according to rank. Gold was reserved
for the official ring of the Senator, which he himself might wear only
when on duty. Naturally such restrictions could not be binding for long.
Censorship usually produces an exaggeration of what it has tried to curb.
In the early days of the Empire everyone worth his salt manifested his
worth with adornments.
The citizens favored bright colors in their jewels: reds, yellows, blues.
The drivers at the chariot races wore different colors; spectators bet
on the red, the yellow, or the blue, and many a precious stone changed
hands according to the speed of the horses and the drivers’ skill. If a
lapidary could not secure precious stones large enough, or in quantities
to meet the ever increasing demand, he made imitations of colored glass.
Although Pliny cried out against the practice of making false gems, the
usual purchaser had few tests to show when he was cheated.
[Illustration: 1. GREEK EARRINGS, 5TH CENTURY B.C. _Wrought in gold,
these ancient loops end in lions’ heads. (Courtesy of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art)_]
[Illustration: 2. CYPRIOTE PENDANT, 8TH CENTURY B.C. _This gold pendant
with chains is an excellent example of the simple beauty found in the
jewelry of ancient Cyprus. (Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art)_]
[Illustration: 3. EARLY 18TH CENTURY ITALIAN BROOCH. (_Courtesy of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art)_]
[Illustration: 4. EGYPTIAN BRACELET, 4TH CENTURY B.C. _“Costume jewelry”
from the Ptolemaic Period. (Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art)_]
[Illustration: 5. ETRUSCAN RING. _This handsome gold ring is set with a
banded agate which has been engraved with a satyr and a goat. (Courtesy
of the Metropolitan Museum of Art)_]
[Illustration: 6. 18TH CENTURY ITALIAN RING. _The seal on this silver
ring is probably an effigy of one of the popes. The plaques represent St.
George and the dragon, and the crest of Pope Clement XII. (Courtesy of
the Metropolitan Museum of Art)_]
[Illustration: 7. CYPRIOTE RING. _Ancient gold worked in a spiral to
produce an unusual piece of jewelry. (Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum
of Art)_]
[Illustration: 8. ROMAN WREATH, 3RD CENTURY B.C. _The expert
craftsmanship of Roman metalwork can be seen in this gold wreath of ivy
leaves. (Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art)_]
[Illustration: 9. INSIDE VIEW OF THE FAMOUS OLD TIFFANY STORE, NEW YORK,
1875.]
[Illustration: 10. THE CROWNING OF A QUEEN. _Queen Mary wears four of
the magnificent gems cut from the Cullinan, the biggest diamond ever
mined. On her bodice, pinned to the ribbon of the Order of the Garter,
is the 317-carat Cullinan II with the 530-carat Great Star of Africa
below it. These two gems normally are in the State crown and the Scepter
respectively. At the base of her diamond collar are the Cullinan IV, a
cushion-cut diamond of 64 carats and the Cullinan III, a pearshape-cut
diamond of 95 carats._]
[Illustration: 11, 12. THE BRITISH CROWN JEWELS. _Left: The Crown of
England, known as St. Edward’s Crown because it was copied, in the time
of Charles II, from the ancient crown worn by Edward the Confessor, has
been used by many of England’s monarchs for their coronation. Right:
The Imperial State Crown is worn by the reigning monarch on all State
occasions. Made in 1838, it embodies many historical gems, including the
Black Prince’s Ruby, a sapphire from the ring of Edward the Confessor and
the second Star of Africa. In all, the crown contains 2,783 diamonds,
277 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and five rubies. (Courtesy of the
British Information Services)_]
[Illustration: 13. REMODELLING THE IMPERIAL STATE CROWN. _Remodelling
work in progress at the Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company in London._]
[Illustration: 14. EMPRESS ELISABETH OF AUSTRIA. _This portrait of one of
the beauties of 19th century Europe shows the young Empress wearing hair
ornaments of diamond stars which have quivering centers._]
_The Vogue of the Pearl_
The notorious pearl-drinking dare of Cleopatra caught the fancy of the
Romans. The serpent of the Nile dissolved a _union_ (the Roman word for
pearl was _unionem_, in this case truly symbolic) worth half a million
dollars, and drank it as a pledge to her Antony. Cleopatra killed herself
rather than walk in the triumph of Emperor Augustus, but the Emperor’s
favorite, Agrippa, we are told, secured the mate to Cleopatra’s pearl.
She had this great pearl halved, for the ears of the statue of Venus in
the Pantheon.
The vogue of the pearl swept over Rome. This “disease of the oyster,”
with its blush of rainbow colors over white, with its tint of beauty and
its hint of underwater mystery, had indeed always been regarded as the
queen of jewels. The Romans affected it to the degree of vulgar display.
The historian Pliny (23-79 A.D.), who railed upon many customs of the
time, commented on Pompey’s having a portrait of himself made in pearls
and borne by slaves in his triumph. “Unworthy!” cried the satirist, “and
a presage of the anger of the gods.” Pliny also recorded that a young
bride was “covered from head to foot with pearls and emeralds.” He waxed
indignant at the fact that women had pearls set in their shoes. But so
did the Emperor Caligula, while the Emperor Nero, fond of the theatre,
had pearls adorn his favorite players’ masks.
Not to be outdone by an Egyptian, Clodius—whose father was a favorite
tragic actor—invited a great company to a feast; he dissolved and drank
a large pearl, said that he enjoyed the flavor, and fed a similar gem to
every guest.
_Roman Luxury_
The vogue of the pearl did not bring about the neglect of other gems.
The Senator Nonius owned a great opal, valued at two million sesterces,
approximately $150,000. The Emperor Augustus coveted the stone; rather
than yield it to him, Nonius withdrew into exile.
Lollia Paulina, wife of the Emperor Caligula, possessed a great chain of
emeralds and pearls worth over two million dollars.
It is significant of the change in Roman ways that when the Emperor
Tiberius once more tried to limit the wearing of gold rings, he based his
restrictions not on rank but on riches. Only those citizens might wear
rings of gold, he ordained in 22 A.D., whose fathers and grandfathers
held property valued at 400,000 sesterces, $30,000. Jewels, always the
property, were thus also made the prerogative of the hereditary rich.
_The Tide Turns East_
Back from Rome toward the East, with Constantine in 330 A.D., went the
flowering fashions, to riot in Byzantine luxury. The Eastern capital
exceeded the declining city of the West—abandoned to the barbarians and
the popes—in extravagance, in colorful splendor and elaborate intricacy
of design. Gems, no longer reserved for the showy jewels, were sewn upon
or woven into the very texture of garments. In all this profusion, the
crafts of the goldsmith and the lapidary continued to thrive, while the
West lapsed into the dun rigor of the Dark Ages.
_Eastward to India_
More or less independently of the western world, the making of fine
jewels flourished in the Far East. In India the code of Manu, about 250
B.C., prescribed fines for poor workmanship and for the debasing of
gold. A drama of the same period describes a workshop, with pearls and
emeralds, and artisans to grind lapis lazuli, to cut shells, to pierce
coral, and to make the filigree and other ornaments that have persisted
in that part of the world unchanged to our day.
The lavishness of Oriental potentates is proverbial; their collections
of precious stones and elaborate jewels have been as fabulous as their
incalculable wealth. Almost to our own generation birthday gifts to
maharajahs have matched the monarch’s weight in gold or precious stones.
At the greatest period of Indian art, during the reign of the Mogul Shah
Jehan, who died in 1666, the art of jewelry almost merged with that of
architecture. In addition to the celebrated Peacock Throne, the Shah
built the Great Mosque at Delhi, and at Agra the Pearl Mosque and that
triumph of beauty, the Taj Mahal. This was erected as a mausoleum for
his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahall, who was called “the adornment of the
palace.”
In addition to the designs and patterns of tile that are a feature of
the mosques, the Taj Mahal is adorned with great treasures of the East:
“jasper from the Punjab, carnelians from Broach, turquoises from Tibet,
agates from Yemen, lapis lazuli from Ceylon, coral from Arabia, garnets
from Bundelcund, diamonds from Punnah, rock crystal from Malwar, onyx
from Persia, chalcedony from Asia Minor, sapphires from Colombo.” It
took thirteen years, from 1632 to 1645, to collect these treasures and
construct the mausoleum. The memory of a woman may be buried there, but a
beauty beyond description is preserved.
_Over the Chinese Wall_
Still farther east, in China, a more restrained and delicate beauty was
developed. Piety and filial devotion taught the Chinese to limit their
display. They cultivated the economy of good taste. The world’s largest
known emerald, found in China, was carved into the figure of Kwan Yin,
goddess of mercy. Jewels were not worn indiscriminately; they served not
only to adorn but to signify station. A mandarin of the first rank wore
ruby or red tourmaline; a mandarin of the second, coral or garnet; of the
third, beryl or lapis lazuli; of the fourth, rock crystal; and of the
fifth, other stones of white.
Beyond all other stones the Chinese prized “the divine stone,” jade.
While this occurs in various shades, even of blue, of red, of brown, it
was, and still is, especially sought in ivory white and in the shades of
green, from light apple to the dark “imperial jade.” This was, legend
whispered, a crystallization of the spirit of the sea. Its possession
conferred longevity, man’s prolonged moment in the eternity of the gods.
A perfect piece of jade is left uncarved. As a pendant, brooch, or ring,
it stands alone, in simple beauty. A cultured Chinese was likely to have
one with him unmounted, just the stone, to cherish it and finger it and
feel its silken surface. There were experts who could tell the quality,
the very color, of a piece of jade, without looking at it, just from the
feel.
Treasured through the centuries in China, jade has come to be prized in
the West as well. The Emperor Kuang-hou sent Queen Victoria, for her
Jubilee, a sceptre of jade. The deep green of the richest jade, the
divine stone, makes it a fit companion for the diamond, the monarch of
gems.
_Dark Age of the Diamond_
The diamond was not mentioned, in this summary narrative, until the
description of the Taj Mahal. This greatest of precious stones—hardest of
gems, and the only one that consists of a single element—was little known
in the ancient world, and but slowly won appreciation in the West. At the
height of the Renaissance, Cellini in 1568 set down the values of the
precious stones, of flawless stones one carat in weight. A ruby of such
specifications was worth 800 gold crowns; an emerald, 400; a diamond, but
100. (The more common sapphire was a far fourth, at ten gold crowns a
carat.)
The Dark Ages in southern Europe were not especially bright with gems.
Individual rulers made some display, on crown, on hilt of sword, and
ecclesiastical splendor was slowly gathering, along with decorated frames
and representations of the Virgin Mary. On the other hand, the medieval
Church frowned upon unseemly extravagance of display, and some monarchs,
even Charlemagne when he doffed his rich crown of state, were sober and
plain in their attire.
_Tribes to the North_
In the more northerly lands, and among the tribes that in the fourth,
fifth, and sixth centuries pressed upon and twice overran Rome, there was
meanwhile more than a crude attempt at jeweled adornment. The Ostrogoths
made some magnificent brooches, mainly with animal designs. The Visigoths
were fond of garnets, often set on a background of cloisonné. Their
crowns and coronets were elaborately wrought; one of these, belonging to
the Spanish-Gothic King Reccesvinthus (649-672) was given as a votive
offering to the church of Santa Maria near Toledo.
The warlike and otherwise austere Franks took pride in their jeweled
buckles. Their brooches were circular, or formed in the shape of birds.
In Belgium, in the Fifth century, there was considerable carving of
chips, a practice that migrated to Scandinavia. In Sweden there was also
an abundance of circular pendants, beaten of thin gold, and decorated
with animals.
_The Celts and the Emerald Isle_
Among the Celtic peoples were found armlets and fibulas, the latter not
so short in the arch, nor so exquisite, as the Greek pins, nor yet so
long and heavy as the Roman. The Celts had large, crescent-shaped head
ornaments, attached near the ears and standing straight up on either side
like the horned moon. They made heavy gold torques, necklaces of twisted
metal usually tight as a collar. Some of the torques, especially those
in Ireland, were much longer and hung down in massive twists across the
chest. Ireland is called “the Emerald Isle” not from any pride in its
deep green verdure, but from the ring sent by Pope Adrian to Henry II of
England in 1170, a ring set with an emerald, for the King’s investiture
with the dominion of Ireland.
The Scotch, because of the way they wore their plaid, grew to have
exceptionally splendid brooches. A fine one of these, preserved in the
British Museum, is known as the Loch Buy brooch; it is of rock crystal
cut in a convex mound, in a circle of ten projecting turrets each topped
with a pearl. A noteworthy brooch design is that of the pin with arms: a
straight bar down the center, enclosed in two arcs of a circle of beaten
gold.
Although most of their gold designs were hammered down into the metal,
the early Celts also grew expert in répoussé, a process in which, on a
thin sheet of metal, the design is hammered upward from underneath.
_The Anglo-Saxons_
Among the Anglo-Saxons, especially those that settled in Kent, a greater
variety was manifest. They made beads in many shapes and shades of glass
and amber. They were fond of the amethyst set in pure gold. They adorned
their hair with pins tipped with figures of animals and fantastic birds.
They took great pains with the art of enamel, which they fashioned
cloisonné.
_Jewels in English History_
The finest known piece of Anglo-Saxon days is the Alfred Jewel, a gold
plaque of cloisonné enamel found in 1693 at Newton Park. It is an oval
two inches long, a little over an inch high, and an inch deep. At the
tip of the oval is a boar’s head. Rock crystal covers the main plaque of
translucent enamel, blue, white, green, and brown, shaped in the head of
a man. Some think this may represent a saint, or the Christ; some say it
is a portrait of Alfred the Great, for along the edge in gold are the
letters: _Aelfred mec heht gewyrcan_, “Alfred had me worked.”
Among other treasures of early England are examples of filigree, such as
a Kentish brooch set with garnets, of the sixth century, and brooches of
granular gold.
_Edward the Confessor’s Jewels_
One of the three Royal Crowns of the British monarch is supposedly that
of Edward the Confessor, who was buried in Westminster in 1101, but whose
shrine was opened and the jewels taken forth for future kings. The royal
treasures of the English realm, however, were broken up by the Roundheads
under Cromwell.
Life at its longest is fleeting, but beauty is an enduring symbol: the
destroyers of the royal treasure are scorned today almost more than the
regicides. The current Crown of Edward the Confessor, therefore, is a
replica, even if the old one was authentic. Less suspect is the great
sapphire, which Edward wore in his coronation ring, and which today is
the central stone in the cross atop the British Imperial Crown of State.
_Growth of the Goldsmiths’ Guild_
Less than a century after Edward, in the reign of Henry II, the first
Plantagenet ruler of England, the Goldsmiths’ Guild was formed. By 1380,
two hundred years later, it was one of the most powerful guilds in the
country, with rigid rules for admittance and for the quality of materials
and workmanship. Although the artists worked for the king and the nobles,
the bulk of their production was for ecclesiastical and general religious
use. As a result, they developed greater refinements and further
elaborations in this field. We have already noticed the rosary beads that
open, disclosing scenes of the life of Christ or the Virgin Mary. But
a cardinal without succumbing to the sin of pride might wear a jeweled
pendant if the hanging box of gold opened upon a crucifix, or adorn his
robe with a rich chain of gold if its links were medallions designed
with holy scenes. Cardinal Wolsey, whose kitchen boasted twenty-two
specialty chefs, vied with his lusty monarch, Henry VIII, in many ways,
but he could never hope to match the King’s jewels which included almost
250 rings, well over 300 brooches, and one of whose diamonds, an observer
reports, was bigger than “the largest walnut I ever saw.”
_The Italians in the Renaissance_
The Italian Renaissance started earlier than and outshone the English.
The great jewel collections of ancient times, of the Emperors Julius
Caesar and Hadrian of Maecenas were dwarfed by the collections of the
Medici and the Borgias. The styles favored in those days are still vivid
in the portraits of the period. Many of the painters and sculptors,
indeed—Donatello (1386-1466), Pollaiuolo (1429-1498), Botticelli
(1444-1510), Cellini, to name but four—began their careers as goldsmiths
and jewelers. They fashioned works with painstaking devotion and
venturesome skill for their generous but exacting patrons.
Lorenzo de Medici collected the antique cameos and intaglios freshly
unearthed in Italian soil; under the spur of his interest, intaglio
jewels achieved a new delicacy. Metal was worked with greater deftness,
flat, chased, or répoussé. Faience, the art of painting and glazing
ceramics, was added to the colorful arts of enameling.
_Enseignes_ became popular, badges of dignity in the form of a
gold adornment on a man’s hat, with the nobleman’s crest or other
identification caught into the design. All over the continent, and
even among the Italianate Englishmen of Elizabeth’s court and James’,
the enseigne was worn as a clasp to hold the plume, while from one ear
beneath dangled a golden ring or a pear-shaped pearl.
Rings of all sorts were again in demand, especially signet rings, _fede_
(clasped hands) friendship rings, gimmals or gemmels (twin rings that
could be separated for two lovers to wear)—and poison rings.
Particularly popular was the pendant, in many forms and positions.
Pendant earrings again grew, until almost too large to wear. Even larger
pendants, many opening on cameos, dangled upon the breast. Pendants of
all sorts hung from the girdles, utilitarian in the shape of golden keys
or scissors, religious in the shape of a crucifix or the relic of a
saint, along with purely aesthetic medallions of animals or flowers, or
golden spheres—so many as to make a tinkling when one walked.
A new fashion in the pendant was introduced, a jewel on the forehead,
hung from a hair band or adornment; in India, similar pendants had
for centuries hung from the veil. This new pendant was called the
_ferronière_, from La Ferrionière (“the ironmonger’s wife”) whose
portrait survives, probably painted by Leonardo da Vinci when she was
mistress of Francis I of France.
_The Renaissance Across Europe_
When Cellini went to France, he gave impetus to the art work there.
In Spain, the goldsmiths fashioned reliquaries; they wrought pendants
on which they hung the emeralds new-garnered from Peru; they favored
bow-shaped brooches of many jewels, the ruby vying with the emerald. The
great international bankers, the Fuggers, dealt also in jewels and gems.
Hans Holbein the painter, while in England, made many designs for jewels.
The painter Albrecht Dürer, son of a goldsmith, fashioned a pendant for
Henry VIII, with the initials E R (Enricus Rex) and three large drops.
At the same time, the sons of wealthy merchants, the young bloods of
the cities, with spangled chain and jeweled dagger hilt, aped the sons
of nobles. Restrictive regulations did little to curb their display. As
wealth was not yet evenly distributed, not everyone could afford the
genuine precious stones, and the trade in paste flourished. Milan was the
center of this manufacture. In addition to the ordinary glass used for
imitation gems, _strass_ glass was developed. Invented by Josef Strasser,
this mixes lead or flint with the usual vitreous substance and obtains
a greater lustre. Either type of glass often had placed beneath it,
cunningly hidden in the setting, a tiny bit of quicksilver or tinfoil, to
make the glass reflect more light and thus seem to sparkle with its own
fire.
The Renaissance no more than earlier times had skill to know the genuine
from the imitation. Cellini chuckles over the fact that Henry VIII of
England, bargaining with a shrewd dealer of Milan for a fine set of
jewels, received what he felt was one of his best buys—in paste.
_The Reformation_
The ease of working in these various modes overreached itself. The
designs again grew more and more elaborate. Enseignes, medallions, love
tokens, memorials of saints, grew heavier than the hats, than the heads,
they were intended to adorn. Rings and bracelets were fashioned to be
worn outside of gloves; gloves were fashioned with slits to display
bracelets and rings within. Extravagance of ornament, though a minor
cause, contributed to the revulsion against the many abuses of the
day that led to the two reformations. The Church itself embarked on a
housecleaning campaign, which included simplicity of dress and paucity of
adornment.
The seventeenth century in Europe, in the field of jewels, was one of
timid venturing. The Portuguese came to the fore with delicate work,
golden sprays of leaves and flowers with tiny gems, ribbons and knots
of gold. In France the _sévigné_ appeared, a simple golden bow or
rosette worn on the breast, named after the Marquise de Sévigné, a noted
blue-stocking and one of the greatest letter writers of her day. The
sévigné, at first rather plain, was elaborated during the eighteenth
century into a massive brooch, or even a gemmed stomacher. The aigrette
also appeared at this time, in the form of feather-like thin movable
stalks of gold tipped with tiny gems set in enamel; these vibrated as the
wearer moved.
_The Eighteenth Century_
In the eighteenth century greater attention was again paid to adornment.
The aigrette became more popular, used mainly as an ornament for the
hair. Thin silver stalks like stems of wheat were banded just below the
center, with a slide for fastening; the tips were set with diamonds.
Some pins for the hair and some brooches were fashioned with birds or
butterflies, again on thin stalks so that they flitted as the wearer
walked. This vibration of the aigrette added to the sparkle of the gems.
I have made a variation of this jewel, as a flower, to fit the taste of
the twentieth century.
A new type of pendant earring was the girandole. This appeared in two
main forms. In one, from a large circular stone at the ear lobe hung
three pear-shaped pendants, sometimes amethysts or other colored stones,
but usually diamonds. In the other type, from the top stone was suspended
an oval hoop of gold, within which a single large diamond hung loose.
More and more as the nineteenth century came near, the fashion in
precious stones demanded diamonds. If not in the center of a jewel, they
were used to set off the main one. They were worn in the new marquise
ring, the gold of which was fashioned to hold a large oblong stone
surrounded by diamonds. They were an essential element of the parure, the
set of matching jewels, which developed in this century in France. Thus
milady might have, in a parure, a bracelet, necklace, earrings, aigrette,
and sévigné, all ordered together and made of the same metals and
precious stones, patterned for their respective purposes in a concordant,
harmonizing whole.
_On the Romantics_
For a time, under the influence of the rococo style, and the Gothic
tendency in the other arts, it looked as though jewelry designs, becoming
more and more elaborate and extravagant, might again approach the
eccentric and achieve the inept. In 1755, however, the ruins of Pompeii
were unearthed, with their treasures of antique style, and a classical
simplicity became the order of the day, fostered for a time by the
“return to nature” of the Romantics. It was felt, for instance, that
the diamond, now prized beyond all other precious stones, shone most
effulgent when it stood alone in a simple setting.
The wars toward the end of the eighteenth century, culminating in the
French Revolution and the campaigns of Napoleon, shifted the ownership
but did not stem the manufacture or the collection of jewels. The
inventory of Mlle. Mars, taken in 1828, listed over sixty items, many of
them treasures in themselves. Notable among these were: a necklace of two
rows of brilliants (diamonds), forty-six in the first row, forty-eight in
the second. Eight bunches of sprigs of wheat tipped with brilliants (that
is, eight aigrettes) totaling about 500 brilliants weighing 57 carats;
a garland of brilliants that could be worn as one bouquet or divided
into three flower brooches, totaling 709 brilliants and 85¾ carats; a
sévigné—mounted in colored gold a central large topaz was surrounded by
brilliants, with three drops of opals also surrounded by brilliants, the
whole set in gold studded with rubies and pearls; a pair of girandole
earrings of brilliants—in each, from the large stud brilliant were
suspended three pear-shaped brilliants, united by four smaller ones; a
pair of earrings—from the large stud brilliant of each hung a cluster
of 14 smaller brilliants, like a bunch of grapes; a parure of opals,
consisting of a necklace, a sévigné, two bracelets, earrings, and a
belt-plate. And Mlle. Mars, though a noted comic actress and a favorite
of Napoleon, was by no means the outstanding society woman of her day.
_Into the Nineteenth Century_
By 1840 many new designs—frets, crescents, stars—were employed to show
off the popular diamonds. These were still preeminent in the magnificence
of the marriage of Napoleon III in 1853, but his Empress Eugénie revived
the use of strings of pearls for the evening. Diamonds were then worn in
similar strings, called rivières, necklaces of a succession of single
stones, matched or graduated, with a very large stone in the center. A
stone of ten carats was no longer considered large; the diamond must be
at least fifteen carats, and preferably nearer forty. The large solitaire
became popular, not only for engagement rings, but as the clip-stone on a
pin or pendant, from the diamond often hanging a pear-shaped pearl.
The late nineteenth century developed an electicism, a freedom of choice
among the various modes of the past, that continues into the jewelry
design of our own day. Toward the end of the century, perhaps as a
by-product of the school of _les diaboliques_ in literature and art,
there developed a desire to shock the bourgeoisie, and with it a certain
desire for novelty, manifested in such bizarre items as live beetles
worn as pins, or brooches of a live tortoise with gems set in its shell.
_The Twentieth Century_
A central ground of common sense and classical design was firmly
maintained by Peter Carl Fabergé and the House of Fabergé, which designed
many of the jewels at the turn of the century and continued popular
among the Edwardians. The great World’s Fair in Paris in 1900 showed a
fresh interest in design, and the use of such materials as translucent
enamel, ivory, and horn. The influence of the Orient showed in these
materials; it was also evident in larger and more colorful earrings and
the multiplicity of bracelets.
Hair styles played their part in the shaping of jewelry. The pompadour
in front, with chignon, increased the output of tortoise-shell combs,
often studded with diamonds, and of _fourches_, large two-pronged
hairpins similarly adorned. After 1914, the vogue of bobbed hair shifted
production from combs to diamond slides. At the same time, the exposed
ears made ear ornaments de rigueur. As many persons objected to having
their ear lobes pierced for earrings, the earclip became popular; today
it is almost universal in feminine fashion.
About this time, too, short sleeves led to an increased use of bracelets,
often worn several on one arm. Especially popular has been the bangle
bracelet, a band of gold from which are suspended coins, figures of men
and animals, and other tokens and mementos. Sometimes golden disks are
engraved with sentimental designs or sayings; sometimes the words are
humorous, the figures grotesque.
Platinum and more recently palladium have been increasingly used as basic
metals for the new jewelry, along with the now less frequent silver and
the constant gold.
Spurred by René Lalique, the impetus of modern art has been felt in
jewelry design. Cubic, non-representational, and other modes of abstract
form have helped shape the modern bracelet, earclip, watch, and the case
for powder, cigarettes, lighter, or the watch. While some jewels thus
manifest the modern modes, others draw freely on the beauty of the past,
as stimulus to the creation of fresh patterns of beauty for our day.