Photo from the V&A ~Notice the diamnd teardrop~
I've fallen hard for these incredible pieces of jewelry. I love the intrigue and meaning behind them as well as thier beauty. Here's some backstory about these gorgeous Lover's eye miniatures.
Photo ~The Philadelphia Museum of Art~
In the late 1700s, while his father George III was losing the Revolutionary War in America, George IV of England was losing his heart to a young girl, who happened to be a commoner. The young prince's lover gave him a locket with a miniature painting of her eye; her anonymity was preserved while eye contact was maintained. The idea caught on and, for about 30 years, these Georgian miniatures became fiercely popular among the upper classes throughout Europe and have become a very rare and sought out genre of antique jewelry today.
Photo ~The Philadelphia Museum of Art~
Painted by miniaturists, portrait painters who specialized in small, detailed images. They focused on only the eye, often represented with eyebrow and lashes. Sometimes showcasing a wisp of hair or the suggestion of a sideburn or the bridge of a nose would hint at the owner's identity but never reveal it, how romantic! Adding to the mystery of it all the miniaturist often added a delicate border of clouds around the eye.
These amazing little love tokens appeared between the 1790s and 1820s in the courts and upper crust households of England, Russia, France.
Photo ~The Philadelphia Museum of Art~
Eventually, the idea caught on for use as mourning jewelry. Mourning pieces contained the eye of a departed loved one, sometimes set in a frame of pearls which symbolized tears.
Photo ~The Philadelphia Museum of Art~
Most eyes are unidentifiable, however, there is one diamond-studded example marked with an Imperial Crown and initials "J.B." This piece can be traced back to Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's ne'er-do-well brother who was once the Emperor of Spain! So incredible!!
Photo~Te Lenore Dailey Collection~
“When full dressed she wore around her neck the barrenest of lockets, representing a fishy old eye, with no approach to speculation in it” – Charles Dickens, 1848
Photo ~Flickr~
Such gorgeous pieces! How I would love to add one to my collection of portrait jewelry, a girl can dream can't she!?!
