Brooch
ca. 1875 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This butterfly brooch is typical of the cut steel goods exported from France to much of Europe and America in the second half of the nineteenth century. The flourishing trade was bolstered by the need for jewellery to wear during periods of secondary mourning (an interim period between full and semi-mourning in the Victorian era) as well as by fashionable status. In London in 1882 it was reported that steel butterflies had begun to perch on bonnets.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Cut steel |
| Brief description | Cut steel, France, ca.1875 |
| Physical description | In the form of a butterfly. The wings, with curved tips, are encrusted with small fasceted steel studs with three larger flat topped studs on the upper sections and two on the lower sections. The body is made of a long tapering stud with diagonal fascets at the bottom and oval and circular flat topped studs. A pin runs horizontally across the upper part of the wings. |
| Dimensions |
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| Summary | This butterfly brooch is typical of the cut steel goods exported from France to much of Europe and America in the second half of the nineteenth century. The flourishing trade was bolstered by the need for jewellery to wear during periods of secondary mourning (an interim period between full and semi-mourning in the Victorian era) as well as by fashionable status. In London in 1882 it was reported that steel butterflies had begun to perch on bonnets. |
| Bibliographic reference | Bury, Shirley, Jewellery 1789-1910: The International Era, Woodbridge, Antique Collectors' Club,1991 Vol. 2, p.695. ISBN 185149104x |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.24-1994 |
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| Record created | October 31, 2007 |
| Record URL |
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