DOI Heft:
Nr. 204 (February, 1914)
DOI Artikel:Some examples of modern English jewellery
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43454#0399
Some Examples of Modern English Jewellery
SOME EXAMPLES OF MODERN
ENGLISH JEWELLERY.
Of the various forms in which the aesthetic
sense manifests itself that of personal adornment
is without doubt at once the most primitive and
the most universal. Abundant evidence in support
of this assertion is forthcoming in the records of
exploration in Africa, Asia, and America, and in the
narratives of travellers in every part of the world
amongst all types of mankind. The articles which
the savage uses for this purpose may be very far
removed from what we understand as jewellery,
but, simple as they may be, they have the same
fascination for him as the precious jewels worn by
noble and wealthy ladies in civilised countries;
they may be nothing more than coloured glass beads,
but as we know from travellers who can speak with
authority on this point, they are a real joy to the
unsophisticated heart of the child of nature—they
are in fact his jewels—and let us not forget the
meaning of the word, for does not “ jewel ” like
its French cognate joyau come from the Italian
gioja and the Latin gaudium, meaning joy ? And
then what an immense part these “joy” things
play in modern civilised life ! If we look around
SILVER PENDANT SET WITH BLISTER PEARLS, GREEN
AGATE AND TURQUOISE. BY FRANCES RAMSAY
us we shall find the custom of wearing some orna-
ment or other almost universal; from the lowest
to the highest, very few will be found who are
absolutely devoid of some article which falls
within the category of jewellery in its broadest
signification.
To cater for this perennial and ubiquitous re-
quirement of humanity a whole army of workers is
employed in various of the great cities of Europe
where the manufacture of jewellery is carried on as
a highly organised branch of industry—London
SILVER CROSS WITH GOLD SPIRALS SET WITH CABOCHON
AMETHYSTS AND FINE BLISTER PEARLS. BY VIOLET
RAMSAY
and Birmingham in England and Paris and
Vienna on the Continent still remain the principal
sources of the bulk of the jewellery which finds its
way to myriads of shops in all quarters of the
globe and thence to the millions who purchase and
wear it. And in this industry like most others
the tendency towards specialisation has been
growing, and as may be readily surmised the use
of machinery and mechanical appliances of various
kinds is extensive, especially of course for the
production of the cheaper grades. In the workshops
265
SOME EXAMPLES OF MODERN
ENGLISH JEWELLERY.
Of the various forms in which the aesthetic
sense manifests itself that of personal adornment
is without doubt at once the most primitive and
the most universal. Abundant evidence in support
of this assertion is forthcoming in the records of
exploration in Africa, Asia, and America, and in the
narratives of travellers in every part of the world
amongst all types of mankind. The articles which
the savage uses for this purpose may be very far
removed from what we understand as jewellery,
but, simple as they may be, they have the same
fascination for him as the precious jewels worn by
noble and wealthy ladies in civilised countries;
they may be nothing more than coloured glass beads,
but as we know from travellers who can speak with
authority on this point, they are a real joy to the
unsophisticated heart of the child of nature—they
are in fact his jewels—and let us not forget the
meaning of the word, for does not “ jewel ” like
its French cognate joyau come from the Italian
gioja and the Latin gaudium, meaning joy ? And
then what an immense part these “joy” things
play in modern civilised life ! If we look around
SILVER PENDANT SET WITH BLISTER PEARLS, GREEN
AGATE AND TURQUOISE. BY FRANCES RAMSAY
us we shall find the custom of wearing some orna-
ment or other almost universal; from the lowest
to the highest, very few will be found who are
absolutely devoid of some article which falls
within the category of jewellery in its broadest
signification.
To cater for this perennial and ubiquitous re-
quirement of humanity a whole army of workers is
employed in various of the great cities of Europe
where the manufacture of jewellery is carried on as
a highly organised branch of industry—London
SILVER CROSS WITH GOLD SPIRALS SET WITH CABOCHON
AMETHYSTS AND FINE BLISTER PEARLS. BY VIOLET
RAMSAY
and Birmingham in England and Paris and
Vienna on the Continent still remain the principal
sources of the bulk of the jewellery which finds its
way to myriads of shops in all quarters of the
globe and thence to the millions who purchase and
wear it. And in this industry like most others
the tendency towards specialisation has been
growing, and as may be readily surmised the use
of machinery and mechanical appliances of various
kinds is extensive, especially of course for the
production of the cheaper grades. In the workshops
265