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- A LITTLE HISTORY OF THE JEWEL -

May, Nice Month of May... LUCKY DRAGON in France

BY VALÉRIE GOUPIL, DOCTOR IN ART HISTORY, HISTORIAN OF JEWELRY, EXPERT-GEMMOLOGIST

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Amulets, Talismans, Fetishes...
In order to attract, to call happiness and to repel misfortune, men, for centuries, have had recourse to rites, gestures and objects. These can be of natural origin (stones, dried flowers, etc.), manufactured (representations of animals or objects) or marked with a number or a magic formula. supernatural or religious world, they ward off misfortune in all civilizations.
These objects are endowed with a force, a mysterious power for those who wear them.

Some definitions

Named by different names until the 1870s: amulets, talismans, fetishes, charms, sometimes lucky charms, then mascots, vein charms.
Amulet, comes from the Latin amuletum that Pliny uses to designate an object that preserves people from disease and thus from evil. There is a prophylactic meaning in the word.
Talisman, would come from Arabic tilasm. Corresponding to the Greeks: Telesma, which means “consecrated object”.
The term fetish is borrowed from the Portuguese noun feitiço meaning “something made and…” and faticiera, “witch”.
The word Gris-gris according to Pierre Guiraud, “probably represents the proverb faire gris-gris, faire gueri-gueri, a childish expression that could have passed into the sabir.
Finally mascot, comes from mascoto, spell.
All these words evoke the magical and protective power of objects.

Lucky charm

If men wore "talisman rings" in the years 1835-1840, it was not until the mid-1870s, after a very violent and painful political and social context, that a host of luxurious bracelets appeared on women's wrists. so-called “lucky charms” in gold and sometimes in platinum, adorned with precious stones. In 1874, "nothing is more gallant and of better style than the gift of a lucky charm of small volume, slender, filiform, of extra-modest appearance and which bears, nestled on a point of its circle, a high-priced diamond”, whose origin would be oriental writes E. Chapus. Women can wear several because “the happiness of which life is made up is multiple (…) love, wealth, talents, spirit (…)”. In 1876, the Grands Magasins du Louvre offered “bracelets known as Porte-Bonheur (in) metal, nickel-plated, chiseled and open-cut”; worn in large numbers, they are called "weekly bracelets". The word lucky charm is defined at this date in the Littré as a "jeweller's term, bracelet without hinge and plain, usually in silver or gold, which is worn on the arm, and which one never leaves".

These jewels are then rarely accompanied by inscriptions or patterns except the four-leaf clover. It seems that we have to wait until the end of this century to see them appear more regularly.

Representation of lucky charms

In 1903, a very interesting description of a lucky charm bracelet appeared in the Revue de la bijouterie, joaillerie, orfèvrerie:

The real lucky charm bracelet
The elegant, who want to make the most of superstitious traditions in the interest of their adornment, have decreed that a bracelet, to combine business with pleasure, while protecting against all bad luck, must be topped with thirteen lucky charms:
1° A four-leaf clover, pledge of happiness;
2° A hammer, symbol of fidelity;
3° An amethyst heart, which ensures constancy;
4° A bell, a sign of righteousness;
5 A French pierced sou, which it seems retains grace;
6° A little pig, sovereign against the evil eye;
7° A juniper berry, sure gainer of good health;
8° A small snake, symbol of eternal love;
9° An old currency which gives chance to all games;
10° A hazelnut, long life insurance;
11° A horse's hoof, guarantee of success in business,
12° The horn of ivory or coral against dangers.
13° The number 13 itself closes the series; such is the bracelet, universal panacea, which while forming the delights of beautiful idlers, provides a certain source of income for their jeweler, thus justifying its object: useful dulci.

This lucky bracelet is made up of three categories of lucky charms: plants, representations of animals, miniature objects and a writing sign with the number 13. We will study these signs through different articles.

lucky plants

Whether picked, found, offered, some of them symbolize happiness. They are then dried and worn in a medallion or represented in metal, sometimes enamelled or set with gems. The power is the same.

The four leaf clover

It is undoubtedly the favorite plant to wish or attract happiness. Already in 1852, Eugenie had received indirectly from her future husband, a brooch in silver and enameled gold, representing a clover with three leaves surrounded by small diamonds.
But what is most sought after is the rarity of the four leaflets. A journalist from Gallic in 1898, was worried about "the huge consumption of 4-leaf clover, which the enthusiasm granted to this rare plant made us suspicious". Reassuring the reader, he tells us that “the real lucky charm is the one you find yourself without looking for it! ".
Each leaf is said to have a virtue: fame, wealth, sincere love and health. The clover finds its place on bracelets, pins, brooches and particularly in medallions where it is preciously preserved (fig. 3). It can be reproduced and cut out of metal (Fig.4), or painted on glass (Fig.5). 

Lily of the valley

In April 1912, Gallic informs his readers that "the best lucky charm is (..) to hold a little lily of the valley in the hand, to pin it to the bodice" or to wear it in the buttonhole. Its small white bells each seem to contain a wish and its sweet, slightly musky fragrance is fragrant. Associated with May 1st, it was offered long before 1947, the year of Labor Day and a public holiday in France. Symbol of renewal and spring, this day, called "green of May" was already celebrated in the Middle Ages: it was customary to plant a green tree, called May, in front of the door of a person you wanted to honour.
At the end of the XNUMXth century, E. Hupin testifies in his book “Au temps du muguet”: young people did not fail to celebrate this moment, we danced in the woods and “country orchestras were heard everywhere (…) After the picking the May and the first bouquets (…) the lovers would not have dared to miss the annual feast where so many accords had come to an end”.

To offer a sprig of lily of the valley is to offer happiness, which can be offered in gold with its small pearl bells (fig.6 and 7) or engraved on a medallion containing the portrait of a loved one (fig.7b) .

The mistletoe

Symbol of vitality, immortality, hope, this plant with branches made up of green leaves, dotted with small white balls, has the particularity of keeping its greenery during the winter, on bare trees.
Sought after in antiquity, it is known to be venerated by the Gauls and was the subject of a druidic ceremony.

Highly sought after at the end of the 1th century, around Christmas and the XNUMXst of the year, it is suspended from the ceiling of the bedroom for a year. The year expired, it should not be thrown away but burned to be replaced. Thus, it will bring good luck. We kiss under the mistletoe. In Brittany, it was customary to fetch mistletoe. The party was for whoever found it and hung it above the front door. Young girls, relates P. Constantin in the Plant World, “pass one by one below, where they are kissed without ceremony by all the boys present. After a modest but abundant feast (…) the Mistletoe is burned (…) The “King of the Mistletoe” then cheerfully distributes the ashes to all the assistants who will have to keep them preciously, as “lucky charms”, in small sachets that they carry on their breasts”.

The mistletoe branch, its many small elongated, rounded leaves and its berries set with fine pearls, can be seen on many pieces of jewelry in the 8th and 9th centuries (fig.XNUMX and XNUMX). The Art Nouveau era particularly appreciates it.

Holly

Like the mistletoe, the holly branch has evergreen leaves. Spiky, toothed, they are decorated with small red fruits, symbolizing life. Cut at the same season as the sacred plant, the holly is from the end of the 1896th century, a lucky charm, as it is mentioned in Le Gaulois in 10: "The traditional bouquet: mistletoe, branches of holly mixed with the Christmas rose, offered this year in a large old silk bag (…) The floral emblem is attached to a frame as a souvenir or placed in a favorite trinket. We will keep it all year round as a lucky charm. It is therefore quite natural to find it as the main motif on enamelled gold jewellery, set with coral balls (fig.XNUMX). 

The Edelweiss

The little white flower from the peaks of the Alps is a lucky charm “in adventure and in love”. It is also the reward of the valiant mountaineers (some of whom will die trying to pick it). From the end of the 11th century, this curious snow star adorned with white wool, whose stem seems to be wrapped in wadding, is preserved in medallions. Sculpted in ivory or made of glass paste, it is worn as brooches, pins or pendants (fig.XNUMX).

We have focused in this small article on the main plants known by all for their attribution of bringing good luck. Others, locally in France, have this power associated with their medicinal virtue. We should also note the publication of numerous works from the middle of the XNUMXth century, devoted to the “language” of flowers.

To conclude this chapter on plants, let us mention a final element, a symbol of life since Antiquity: wood. Between that of the oak which protects men from lightning and that of the cross of the risen Christ, this material symbolizes life. "Knock on wood", an expression and practice that associates gesture with speech, allows you to ward off fate, to ask God to answer your prayer. In 1916, during the war, the Maison Van Cleef & Arpels created “Touch Wood” jewelry, associated with precious stones, gold and platinum. 

Legend details

Fig. 1: 750/°° yellow gold brooch with black enamel and fine pearl. French work around 1850. Diameter 3 cm
Fig. 2: 750/°° yellow and white gold bracelet. Italian work.
Fig. 3: Pendant in yellow gold and 750/°° pink gold. Four-leaf clovers have been slipped between the two glasses. French jewel from the end of the 19th century.
Fig. 4: Early 750th century medallion pendant in 2,80/°° yellow and green gold, blue enamel and calibrated sapphires representing a four-leaf clover. Diameter: XNUMXcm
Fig. 5: Pendant in 750/°° pink gold and silver, adorned with a set under glass with a white clover motif, rose-cut diamonds. French work from the end of the 2,70th century. size: 1,90 x XNUMX cm
Fig. 6: Necklace in 750/°° yellow gold and pendant in matte yellow gold, 5 cultured pearls, and old-cut diamond. French work.
Fig. 7 and 7b: 750/°° gold pendant, half fine pearls. Work from the beginning of the 2,9th century. Diameter: XNUMX cm,.
Fig. 8: Pendant in 750/°° yellow gold, adorned with a small emerald surrounded by 4 pearls. Dimensions: 30mm x 30mm
Fig. 9: French medallion from the beginning of the 3th century, Art Nouveau period, in green gold and four half-pearls. Dimensions (with bail): 2,2 cm x 3 cm x XNUMX mm.
Fig. 10: Holly brooch in plique-à-jour enamel, in silver (900 thousandths), 3 coral beads. Art Nouveau work from Pforzheim, circa 1905-1015. Dimensions: 4,2cm x 1,5cm.
Fig. 11: Pendant by Gabriel Argy-Rousseau (1885-1953), oval shape in oblong glass paste, model created in 1924.
Fig.12: Twisted 750/°° yellow gold brooch, paving of rose-cut diamonds on platinum
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Find the Belle Époque and Art Nouveau period from which several jewels come.

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