Waisted pendant cross of moulded vulcanite, with arms decorated with rose and leaf motifs, Britain, about 1870

Waisted pendant cross of moulded vulcanite, with arms expanding from the centre. At the intersection, a bow with crossed ribbon ends, descending towards roses and leaves. The remaining arms also carved with roses and leaves. The back is plain.

Given by Miss A. L. Wyatt

The increasing rigidity of mourning conventions during the reign of Queen Victoria gave great encouragement to the manufacture of black jewellery. Expensive work in black-enamelled gold was made by hand. Jet was much in demand, and the workshops in Whitby, Yorkshire, near the main source of the material, produced articles which often comprised hand-carved details applied to mass-produced bodies turned on lathes. Mass production methods, and the use of substitute materials, brought mourning jewellery within reach of all but the poorest. This piece is made of moulded in vulcanite, a preparation of india rubber and sulphur hardened under intense heat.

M.17-1971