Victorian Jewelry: Unexplored Treasures

By Corinne Davidov

Book Overview

An authoritative and gorgeously illustrated survey of Victorian jewelry that focuses on "secondary" jewelry, characterized by bold, playful, romantic and modern designs.

The many styles of Victorian jewelry presented in this volume are selected from the best collections in the United States and abroad, and shown here in specially commissioned, exclusive color photographs. The photographs showcase the glorious color and style of the rich variety of materials, including Scottish Agate, malachite, and granite, the amazingly modern niello, and the stark black beauty of Whitby jet.

For more than half a century, during the reign of Queen Victoria, England and Europe produced some of the most delightful flights of fancy that jewelry has ever taken. Long ignored because of the intrinsic worthlessness of its various materials, today these pieces are increasingly prized for their beauty and workmanship. Surprisingly, this period in jewelry-making did not follow the fussy, overly ornate style that characterized the Victorian era, but rather promoted bold, playful, romantic and "modern" styles. Some of the most unusual pieces were constructed with materials including hair, lava, coal iron, and aluminum. The text gives authoritative and fascinating historical context to the uses of these materials and designs. Many of the most sought-after pieces are made of silver, and popular designs include stars, anchors, hearts, bows and outstretched hands.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0789208687
• ISBN13: 9780789208682
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: Abbeville Press
• Length: 156 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 10.2" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Beautiful Victorian Jewelry Book

I would love to see more quality books about antique jewelry like this one. It has excellent examples of the "secondary" jewelry from the Victorian period so aptly called "unexplored treasures" such as agate, jet, cut steel and silver. The photographs are wonderful and the text is very interesting. I rank this book as one of my favorites on the subject and would love to see more on these and other "secondary" pieces by these two authors . Thank you!!!

Beautiful Book!

This book is a must for anyone that collects or deals in Victorian Jewelry! Good information with exquisite photos of the finest examples of Victorian Jewelry.

Victorian well done

Victorian jewelry is one of my passions and I both collect and sell it. This book has fabulous illustrations, great information, and a bit of a different slant than other books on Victorian jewelry. I am so glad I did not miss this one, and bought copies for both my home and shop libraries. Worth twice the price!

Opened my eyes to a vast array of jewelry styles that I wasn't familiar with

This quite a different take on jewelry than most books, and accordingly very worthwhile. I got this book out of the library, read it cover-to-cover, and I am still buying a copy. The pictures are absolutely gorgeous and wonderfully detailed. These are the common, cheaper, but still beautiful pieces that are normally overlooked. I think that people who like Art Nouveau, which concentrated more on design than the expense of the materials, would find them particularly interesting. In addition, Dawes take us through the various fads of the time period. The text explains many of the peculiarities behind the rise of such styles (e.g.: aluminum was once rare; aristocrats wore iron jewelry to show that they had supposedly patriotically donated their real jewels to the government, etc.) A very worthwhile addition to a jewelry book collection.

Secondary Victorian treasure pieces

During her nearly sixty-four-year reign Queen Victoria produced a cultural and fashion following particularly notable in the jewelry world, where English and European Jewelers produced less expensive pieces mimicking the queen's, which were worn by the middle class of her times. These pieces were long ignored because of their low value and cheap materials - but today are prized for their workmanship, which VICTORIAN JEWELRY: UNEXPLORED TREASURES reveals in chapters of history following designs, materials, and lovely secondary pieces. Styles presented here have been selected from collections around the world and are displayed through specially commissioned color photos just for this book.