Fauna in Antique Jewellery

There is no doubt that antique jewellery come in lots of different form, particularly jewellery meant to be worn during the day. You can find jewellery shaped like birds, insects, spiders and reptiles (particularly snakes). One reason for this is associated with historical symbolism, another is the fascination Victorians had with nature.

Birds are a very common shape in jewellery, with lots of symbolism, such as the dove linked to the Greek goddess Aphrodite, and associated with love. The dove is also associated with a number of religions. In particular, in France in the 18th and 19th centuries, it was considered by Catholics as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. They are called Saint Esprit doves. The Saint Esprit dove was represented in diamonds and in paste, usually in flight with wings wide and hanging downwards.  You will also see many other birds, such as swallows, owls and swans, in jewellery.

Eagles, like as the tortoiseshell one in the photo at the top of the post, were associated with Zeus and have been said to depict bravery and freedom. Birds with their wings outstretched are inspiring images as is the case of the gold one above set with turquoise cabochons.

You would have thought that arachnids like spiders and scorpions are strange images to use in jewellery but strangely they work, as you can see with the scorpion brooch above and spider brooch below. The Edwardian moonstone set silver scorpion is a lovely sinuous shape with the moonstones showing a lovely adularescence. The early 20^th century spider web brooch with its turquoise-set spider in the middle is another unlikely image to use but it looks quite striking. Spiders symbolise the weaving and spinning of fate and destiny, among many other things.

The final piece of jewellery to show you is a small jewelled butterfly set on an antique pair of amethyst earrings. I think it was just meant to be a pretty image, without symbolism, and it works.