Victorian Mourning Brooch, JEFF-1526
Victorian society dictated strict rules for the observance of rituals related to death and dying from which evolved a mourning fashion, particularly aimed at women, that included social etiquette, clothing, and jewelry. Mourning jewelry containing locks of hair are some of the most endearing and emotional personal mementos from that era. Featured as this month’s artifact from the park’s collections is a brass and enamel mourning brooch for a child that came from a prominent St. Louis family. The oval brooch is outlined with a decorative border of brass with flowers and the picture in the center is of a young child. The reverse side of the brooch contains a compartment with a lock of the child’s hair inside. The idea of mourning jewelry was focused on keeping a memento of the loved one near you. Women could accessorize their prescribed black mourning clothing with earrings, brooches and lockets, but these items had to be worn discreetly within the strict social confines of the time.
The imagery of the afterlife and God’s judgement changed in the Victorian age. God was no longer depicted as the dark, exacting judge from the Middle Ages, but more of a benevolent father who cared for his children in heaven. As a result, the symbols of the afterlife changed from skulls and crossbones to softer and sentimental images of winged cherubs, clouds, and weeping willows.
Using locks of the deceased’s hair was particularly popular in the Victorian era. Victorians believed that hair had a sacred quality because it contained something of the essence of a person. And because hair was imperishable, it also symbolized immortality. White enamel was used for jewelry to memorialize unmarried women and children.
Mourning jewelry may seem morbid to our current sensibilities, but death was ever present in the Victorian era. The average lifespan was only 40 to 45 years. Epidemics of cholera, typhoid, smallpox, and scarlet fever were common killers. Approximately one in three children died before the age of five. Mourning jewelry, as in the brooch featured here, brought a little bit of solace to survivors who had to cope with frequent losses of loved ones.