A wonderful Victorian carved Whitby jet brooch in a stylised snake form. An ever popular jewelry motif during the Victorian era the snake represented eternity and everlasting love and snake designs were often incorporated into the Whitby jet jewellery that was favoured by well heeled ladies who wore it almost exclusively during their lengthy mourning periods.
The brooch is generously sized in an oval shape with a gently pillowed profile. The jet is beautifully carved in a stylized snake form with lots of very attractive detailing. Holes incorporated into design go all the way through to the back and there is a peephole in the centre. The central snake motif is punched out in a circle and dot pattern loosely representing the snakes skin.
Master carved by hand, we absolutely love this incredibly intricate design, it leaves no room for error or the precious jet would have been wasted. The brooch has sterling silver fittings which is unusual, typically even good jet brooches like this one were fitted with brass findings so this lifts this impressive brooch out of the ordinary too.
Not to be confused with French Jet, which is glass, Whitby Jet is a fossilized mineral gemstone millions of years old that is only found in and around the cliffs at Whitby, a seaside hamlet in England. Although jet is found in several countries the jet found in Whitby is considered to be of the best quality in the world! The last photo shows 4 good Whitby jet brooches (including this one) so you can see the fascinating variety of brooches available to the lucky Victorians.
MATERIALS: sterling silver
GEMSTONE: Whitby jet
MEASUREMENTS: 2" (5cm) wide, 1-1/2" (4cm) tall
WEIGHT: 10.7 grams
DATE: circa 1870, Victorian
CONDITION: in excellent antique condition with no chips or cracks in the jet and the pin back in perfect order. There are the usual tooling marks on the back that you would expect to see in a hand wrought piece of antique Whitby jet jewellery.
At Mercy Madge we offer a carefully curated collection of antique and vintage jewellery. Each piece is hand selected with you in mind and we rarely come across two identical old treasures, once they are gone, they are truly gone!
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- FREE DELIVERY on all orders worldwide. All orders are despatched next business day and sent with full tracking.
- RETURNS, you can return your item for a refund for any reason. Just get in touch within 3 days of receiving your order if you wish to do so.
- Our photographs are taken in extreme close-up to show you every tiny detail. Any blemishes are greatly magnified and typically they aren’t noticeable to the naked eye. Reflections caused by our bright lighting can cast to dark spots and discoloured areas that don't exist in real life.
- We offer a free layaway plan on any item over $150. A 25% deposit will secure and reserve the item for you with the balance due in 60 days. If you would like to place an item on layaway, please send us a message and we will assist in setting this up for you.
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Materials: Whitby Jet, Sterling Silver.