Hair Pin thumbnail 1
Hair Pin thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Jewellery, Rooms 91, The William and Judith Bollinger Gallery

Hair Pin

ca. 1830-40 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

A love of nature was one of the most universal and respected sentiments in the 19th century. Naturalistic jewellery, influenced by the Romantic movement and the revived Rococo style, developed early in the period. Its success was due to the beauty and wearability of jewelled flowers and foliage, but also to the continuing interest in botany.

Until around 1830 the designs were stylised and delicate. Later, the ever-more precise copies of flowers, leaves, fruit and insects formed extravagant, colourful and complex compositions. Often the ornament included roses, lilies, chrysanthemums and fuchsias, the most fashionable flowers at the time.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Brilliant and rose-cut diamonds, silver, gold
Brief description
Hairpin in the form of a butterfly, diamonds set in silver, Western Europe, about 1830-40
Physical description
Hairpin in the form of a butterfly, brilliant-cut diamonds with a few rose-cut specimens set in silver, backed with gold.
Dimensions
  • Height: 3.6cm
  • Width: 6.7cm
  • Depth: 1.5cm
Credit line
Cory Bequest
Subject depicted
Summary
A love of nature was one of the most universal and respected sentiments in the 19th century. Naturalistic jewellery, influenced by the Romantic movement and the revived Rococo style, developed early in the period. Its success was due to the beauty and wearability of jewelled flowers and foliage, but also to the continuing interest in botany.

Until around 1830 the designs were stylised and delicate. Later, the ever-more precise copies of flowers, leaves, fruit and insects formed extravagant, colourful and complex compositions. Often the ornament included roses, lilies, chrysanthemums and fuchsias, the most fashionable flowers at the time.
Collection
Accession number
M.140G-1951

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Record createdAugust 17, 2005
Record URL
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