PEASANT JEWELLERY
Until the middle of the nineteenth century the peasants and natives of
every country district of Europe wore modest gold and silver jewellery,
of small pecuniary value, but of great artistic interest. A few years
ago peasant jewellery was seldom sought for, and comparatively unknown;
and collectors, better informed in other respects, did not think of
saving it from the melting-pot. It is now, however, beginning to attract
some of the attention it deserves.
This old peasant jewellery has at the present day nearly all passed
out of the hands of its original owners. The chief cause of its
disappearance has been increased facilities for travelling, which
resulted in jewellery fashioned wholesale in industrial centres being
distributed to the remotest rural districts. The demands of the modern
collector, and improvements in present-day taste among certain of the
cultured classes, which have led to the adoption of old articles of
jewellery for personal use, have also contributed to the disappearance
of peasant jewellery in recent years. The wiles of the dealer have
induced peasants to yield up heirlooms, which, handed down for
generations, have escaped the fate of the jewels of the wealthy and
more fashionable. The great museums of art and industry springing up
everywhere, especially in Germany, have all obtained a generous share
of the spoil, and have preserved it from what, until lately, would have
been inevitable destruction.
So completely in most parts has this old jewellery gone out of use
among the peasantry, that hardly a trace remains of a once flourishing
industry carried on by local craftsmen working on traditional lines, and
untrammelled by the artistic fashion of the moment. Machines driven by
steam power have crushed out of existence skill to make things by hand,
and the cold and monotonous production of the artisan has taken the
place of the old work, whose peculiarly attractive character is due to
its expressing the fresh ideas and inspiration of the artist.
The French peasant jewel _par excellence_ is the cross. It is suspended
from the neck by a velvet ribbon, and varies in form according to
localities. Its size is often in proportion to the social condition of
the wearer. Sometimes it attains considerable dimensions. Fixed upon the
velvet ribbon, and drawing it together just above the cross is a slide
or _coulant_, in the form of a bow, rosette, or heart, and of the same
style as the cross itself. In many provinces of France, such as Savoy,
gold is reserved exclusively for married women--custom having it that
all their jewels should be of that metal. Silver, on the other hand, is
often employed solely for girls' jewellery, possibly because it is
considered the natural symbol of virginal purity, just as in ancient
times it was consecrated to the virgin goddess, Diana.
[Illustration: _PLATE LIII_ SPANISH, PORTUGUESE, FLEMISH AND FRENCH
PEASANT JEWELLERY, ETC.]
The most interesting and perhaps the best-known French peasant jewellery
is that of Normandy and the Auvergne. The chief Norman jewel is the
cross. The most usual form is that which occurs in the districts round
St. Lô and Caen. It is of silver, formed of five high bosses, four round
and one pear-shaped, each set with a large foiled rock crystal (commonly
known as _Diamant_, _Caillou_, or _Pierre d' Alençon_) cut and
faceted in the brilliant shape, and further ornamented with sprays
set with small crystals in rose form. The lower limb of the cross,
_briolette_ or pear-shaped, is hinged, so as to render it less liable to
get bent or broken in wear (Pl. LIII, 4). The spaces between the limbs
are sometimes completely filled up with branched open-work set with
small crystals. In the more northerly parts of France the cross is
formed simply of large bosses set with crystals; but round about Rouen
we meet with an abundance of spray-work. Other crosses of considerable
size are formed of thin plates of pierced gold. The shape of the cross
is indicated simply by crystal bosses, but its form is almost lost in
the outline of the jewel. A favourite subject for representation on
Rouennais jewellery is the _Saint Esprit_ or Holy Dove. Employed as a
breast-ornament or pendant, the Dove is either in gold or silver,
mounted with crystals, or coloured pastes set close together. It is
suspended from an ornament of open knot design, with a rosette-shaped
slide above. In its beak is a branch, spray, or bunch of grapes,
generally of coloured pastes. Peasant jewellery ceased to be worn in
Normandy about 1840, when native costume was given up.
While Normandy relies chiefly on crystal quartz for its jewellery,
the Auvergne can boast of a variety of gems, such as garnets, opals,
spinels, and zircons, which are of frequent occurrence in the volcanic
rock of Central France. The jewellery of Puy is mounted with cabochon
stones in large high settings. Open-work circular pendants have a
central boss with eight similar settings around. The _Saint Esprit_ is
also a popular jewel, but in these parts the form of the Dove is not
completely carried out, the jewel being composed merely of five
pear-shaped bosses to indicate the wings, body, head, and tail of the
bird.
It is to be observed that the patterns of the jewels here alluded to
are not entirely original inventions of the peasantry. As a matter of
fact, they are often from precisely the same models as the jewellery in
use in the seventeenth and early part of the eighteenth century, and are
very similar in style to the large series of original designs in the
National Art Library, South Kensington, executed about that time by the
Santini family of Florence. Their technique is also traditional. This is
shown by the presence on many of the peasant jewels of Southern France,
as well as of other districts, of the painted enamel which came in about
1640, and continued in use for upwards of a century. While fashion has
shifted scores of times since those days, types and styles of jewellery
then set remained unchanged in these quarters until the great industrial
revolution of the nineteenth century and the strange and universal
decline of taste that accompanied it.
Holland is one of the few countries that have retained their peasant
jewellery. Not only is it displayed in abundance on festal occasions,
such as weddings, but it is worn in everyday life by the well-to-do
natives of the country districts. Much jewellery is employed in Zeeland.
The country belles wear jutting out on either side of the lace cap
curious corkscrew-like ornaments of gold, silver, or gilt metal, on
which they hang pendants sometimes tipped with pearls. In the land of
Goes a square gold ornament is pinned close to the face inside the lace
halo that surrounds the head. Coral necklaces are worn, and jet ones
for mourning. Boys have earrings and gold and silver buttons near the
throat. The head-ornaments of North Holland and Utrecht consist of a
broad thin band of gold or silver which encircles the skull and
terminates at each end with the above-mentioned spiral ornaments. These
bands are covered by a white muslin cap or by a cap decorated with
coloured designs. The women of Gelderland display costly caps of gold
beaten out to fit each individual head. In Overyssel the lace cap
terminates with gold ornaments, and the coral necklace has clasps of
gold filigree. Men and boys wear flat silver buttons on the coat and
gold at the collar. At the waist is a pair of large hammered discs of
silver. The natives of the fertile country of Friesland possess vast
stores of jewellery, generally of gold set with diamonds.
Very attractive peasant ornaments are still in use in Belgium. Long
pendent crosses are worn, with earrings to match. They are of open-work
floral and scroll designs, and are mounted with small rosettes set with
rose diamonds--silver rosettes being applied to gold ornaments, gold to
silver ones. The slide or _coulant_ above the cross here forms part of
the pendant, and is not, as in France, attached by the ribbon worn with
it. The heart (_Sacré Coeur_) is not worn above the cross, as in
France, but is used as a distinct ornament, as a rule in silver only.
These open-work heart pendants, commonly found between Antwerp and
Malines, and rarely elsewhere, have an opening in the centre hung with a
movable setting, and a hinged crown-shaped ornament above. Instead of a
crown is sometimes a _flèche_, two quivers and a bow--a love token.
Flemish jewels, unlike the French, are set entirely with rose diamonds.
The peasant jewellery of Norway and Sweden is mainly of silver filigree.
Precious stones do not take an important place in it. When used they are
more often than not false, and are only sparingly applied for the sake
of their colour. Particularly characteristic of almost all the ornaments
of these parts are numerous small concave or saucer-like pieces of
metal, highly polished, or small flat rings. They are suspended by
links, particularly from the large circular buckle which is the chief
article of jewellery. Most ornaments are circular in plan. Besides being
executed in filigree, many of them are embossed or else cast--a style of
work admirably displayed on the huge silver-gilt crowns worn by
Scandinavian brides.
The peasant ornaments of Germany present many varieties of design.
Silver filigree of various kinds is employed for almost all of them. In
the northern districts amber beads are naturally the commonest form of
necklace, while hollow balls of silver are also worn strung together.
Large flat hair-pins are used, the expanded heads of which are
ornamented with raised filigree. Swiss and Tyrolese peasant jewellery is
largely composed of garnets or garnet-coloured glass set in silver
filigree.
So numerous are the different types of Italian peasant jewels that it
is impossible to mention them all. Every small district, nay, every
township, seems to have possessed ornaments that differed in some detail
from those of its neighbours. Many of them display reminiscences of the
antique. Their manufacture follows--or did till quite recent years--the
old methods; the natives of certain out-of-the-way districts in Umbria
still working in very much the same manner as the ancient Etruscans. All
ornaments are somewhat voluminous. The head is uncovered, and presents
an extensive field for hair-ornaments. The Lombards have all sorts of
hair-pins, often a couple of dozen, stuck in nimbus fashion, and through
them crosswise is passed another pin with an oval head at each end.
Earrings are likewise of considerable dimensions, but light in spite of
their size. Their surfaces are very frequently set with seed pearls. The
finest existing collection of Italian peasant jewellery is that in the
Victoria and Albert Museum, purchased from Signor Castellani in 1867. Of
great beauty is the jewellery of the shores of the Adriatic, and that of
the Greek Islands, probably made by descendants of the Venetian
goldsmiths, and commonly known by the title of "Adriatic" jewellery
(Pl. LIV). It is of thin gold, on which are shallow cells filled with
opaque enamels. Crescent-shaped earrings are formed of pendent parts
hung with double pearls. Dating from the seventeenth century are
elaborate and delicate pendants in the shape of fully rigged ships
enriched with painted enamel and hung with clusters of pearls. Beautiful
work of a similar nature was also produced in Sicily.
[Illustration: _PLATE LIV_ "ADRIATIC" JEWELLERY]
Hungarian and Spanish peasant ornaments have already been alluded
to. In both these countries we find the native filigree enamel in
sixteenth-century work, and painted enamel in that of the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries. Spanish jewellery frequently takes the form of
pendent reliquaries. It is usually of stout silver filigree, bearing
traces of Moorish design. The Moorish style is also felt on Portuguese
jewellery, which displays in addition a certain amount of what appears
to be Indian influence. It is composed of gold filigree of very fine
workmanship. Earrings and neck-chains are of such proportions that they
reach respectively to the shoulders and the waist. In addition to the
cross, star, heart, and crescent-shaped pendants are worn. A favourite
form is one resembling an inverted artichoke. Openings are left in its
surface, and within these spaces and on the edges of the jewel are hung
little trembling pendants (Pl. LIII, 2). Portuguese jewellery of the
eighteenth century, largely set with crystal, is admirably represented
in the Museum of Fine Arts at Lisbon.