Jet and materials imitating it were often used in mourning jewellery in the 19th century. The prolonged mourning of Queen Victoria after the death of her husband Albert in 1861, encouraged the wearing of mourning dress. As supplies of jet were not always sufficient for the demand, lower cost alternatives were developed such as cast glass ('French jet' or 'Vauxhall glass'), a type of rubber known as vulcanite, bog oak and ebonised wood.

This brooch is made of carved ebonised wood. Its role as mourning jewellery is signalled by the sombre colour and the use of a hand, emerging from a fashionable sleeve, clutching a yew wreath, a plant associated with cemeteries and mourning. Mourning required not only black clothes but suitable accessories such as jet jewellery. Queen magazine (December 1891) advised its readers that 'nobody requires to be told that a superabundance of jewellery is in especially bad taste at seasons of mourning. A few trinkets however must be worn, if only to accentuate the general sombreness of the costume'.