Circa 1820, a rare and unusual carved Whitby Jet antique seal fob. Once worn on a pocket watch or chatelaine chain and used to seal letters this piece is now a unique pendant that you can wear daily and adore!
This fob has been fashioned into a handsome neoclassical column shape with lots of intricate hand-carved detailing. The seal at the bottom is carved in a geometric diamond pattern and turns out a very well defined impression in a beautiful quilted pattern so you could use it to seal letters if you wanted to add an elegant flourish to your correspondence.
The top of the fob has a threaded swivel clip clasp consistent with the Georgian period. This 'dog-clip' swivel clasp is quite different to later designs. The collar unscrews to open it revealing a hinged base, it closes by clicking it back into the slot and screwing it back to lock it into place. An early and extremely secure type of fastener.
Georgian and especially Victorian Whitby jet jewellery is closely associated with mourning and we have seen very few surviving fobs and even fewer that have been carved into a wax seal. Perhaps it was originally used to seal letters written a period of mourning, we shall never know! A unique addition to your antique jewellery collection.
MEASUREMENTS: approx. 2" (5cm) tall from the bottom of the dog-clip to the bottom of the fob. The fob itself measures 1-1/2" x 1" (3.8x2.5cm). Dog-clip 20x8mm
DATE: Georgian/ early Victorian, circa 1820
WEIGHT: 8 grams
CONDITION: in very, very good condition there may be a few very minor 'flea bites' to the edges of the jet but it is very difficult to tell due to the intricacy of the carving, the seal at the bottom is free of any flaw. The dog clip is still a lovely bright gold with no wearing away of the gold plating, the screw mechanism works perfectly and opens easily and closes tightly.