Thursday, December 6, 2012

Mastery of Design: The Jenkins Bracelet, c. 1880


Bracelet
Europe, c. 1880
The Victoria & Albert Museum




Bracelets were the most fashionable accessories of the 1850s-1890s. Worn in stacks, bracelets were combined to suit any outfit and time of day. “Daytime” bracelets were considered by the French connoisseur Edmond Joly de Bammeville as the “main feature of national dress” in England. Not only would a woman stack her bracelets, but, often, she’d wear up to seven or eight different designs at the same time between the wrist and elbow on both arms—even over gloves. 


This silver gilt bracelet is set with half-pearls and rose-and brilliant-cut diamonds. The jewel is adorned with pierced scrolls and a decorative border. It days to the 1880s. 

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