What are recognizable characteristics of Victorian Jewelry?
Early Victorian jewelry styles were often light, delicate designs that featured scroll work, floral sprays, multicolor gold work and themes from nature and gardening, such as flowers, trees, insects, seashells, birds, and animals. Flowers were highly symbolic and very prevalent in Victorian designs. Serpents (representing eternity, wisdom and good luck) were a favorite motif of Queen Victoria’s. Victoria was a romantic and her love for her husband and devotion to her children were sentiments that found their way into her jewelry. She wore lockets that held pictures of her family on a charm bracelet and jewelry with hearts, bows and romantic sayings. Also very popular was jewelry made from the hair of a loved one (living or deceased). Victoria was proud of her Scottish ancestry, making Scottish motifs popular – knots, buckles, heraldic crests and native stones like agate, citrine, cairngorm, and bloodstone. A surge in religious feelings and the Gothic Revival Movement influenced a renew
