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Video: Commemorative jewelry of Queen Victoria, among which there were some very strange
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Queen Victoria, who is still called the "Grandmother of All Europe", was, of course, the heir to the many jewels of the British crown. However, being very sentimental, the great ruler most of all appreciated not gold and diamonds, but memorabilia that reminded her of children or her beloved husband. True, some of these decorations may seem too extravagant today.
Hair Jewelry
One of the 1865 fashion books says:. Such decorations in the Victorian era were simply a must-have attribute of strong feelings. It is known, for example, that if a person was dying away from home and had a memorial lock with him, then sending it to relatives was considered almost a sacred matter. This rule, by the way, was fulfilled even for soldiers of the enemy army who died in captivity. The most common way to store hair was a medallion. However, sometimes they came up with more interesting options.
The manufacture of such delights was not at all an artisanal affair. To give the hair strength, they were first treated with a hot solution of soda, then sorted by length and then shaped into a product. This was not done by hairdressers, but by jewelers, since even a braid bracelet from hair required a gold clasp. Such decorations, by the way, were the only ones that were allowed in mourning attire. But the English queen loved to wear them just so that she could feel her family next to her. It is known that such gizmos were her daily adornments.
But such a bracelet with multi-colored hearts looks quite modern, but inside each medallion there are strands of hair of children of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and their names are engraved.
Queen Victoria did not remember her father, and she had a very difficult relationship with her mother, as she was too carried away by special educational systems, trying to create an heir to the throne to her liking. However, the queen anxiously kept the locket with strands of her parents' hair all her life.
Jewelry delights from teeth
In the royal families at that time, apparently, they did without the services of Tooth Fairies and Mice, taking away the lost children's teeth. The queen kept all such artifacts herself. For such purposes, a special box was made to order. The milk teeth of all nine children of Victoria and Albert lay here in separate boxes.
But from some, probably the most valuable specimens, jewelry was also made. A precious brooch in the shape of a thistle with the tooth of the Queen's eldest daughter, who was also named Victoria in honor of her mother, really looks very elegant. Next to the photo is another brooch with a tooth instead of a precious stone, but this time the queen decided to perpetuate the hunting trophy of her beloved husband.
Prince Albert was an avid hunter. Judging by the paintings of the 19th century, he often devoted his victories of this kind to his wife. A favorite place for this activity was the summer residence of the royal family in Scotland - Balmoral Castle.
But the prince presented such, unusual by modern standards, jewelry to his august wife. It was made not of pearls, as one might think, but of the teeth of the deer he killed. 40 similar trophies are collected here and framed in gold. Each tooth is engraved with the date when the animal was taken.
For the long memory
The relationship between the queen and her husband is a separate touching story of long-term love. On December 24, 1844, Victoria wrote in her diary: This enamel bracelet with a miniature portrait of Albert and commemorative inscriptions became the favorite item of the sentimental queen. It was in it, by the way, that she posed for the painting "Evening at Balmoral Castle".
The death of her beloved husband was a real tragedy for the queen. She survived him by exactly 40 years, but she did not take off her mourning until the end of her life. For this, Victoria was even nicknamed the "Windsor Widow". In the room of her late husband, she forbade changing anything. They were cleaned regularly, but even the clothes had to hang just like on the day of his death. In this room, the queen gradually began to collect memorabilia especially dear to her. This bracelet with 13 gold medallions was kept there until the Queen's death.
Each medallion contains a photograph of one of Victoria and Albert's grandchildren. All in all, the august English couple had 42 grandchildren! At the beginning of the 20th century, it is these children who will rule almost half of the countries of Europe, having created that very respectful nickname for their grandmother. Perhaps this bracelet also has a child's photograph of Princess Alice of Hesse, the beloved granddaughter of Queen Victoria, whom she did not agree to marry for a long time to the Russian Tsarevich Nicholas.
See Further: Rare Photos of the Last Russian Emperor Nicholas II and His Family
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