Fashion Accessories

Jewelry

Lover’s Eye Brooches

Portrait miniatures mounted as brooches, pendants, or lockets were very popular items of jewelry during the 18th century. Toward the end of the century, an unusual variation became fashionable: the eye brooch, or lover's...

 

Georgian Mourning Brooches

Morbid symbols of death, such as skeletons, skulls, and coffins continued to be used in English mourning jewelry well into the 18th century, but by the second half of the century had become less common and were replaced by images of sorrow....

 

 

Fans

Brisé Fans, Overview

The second most common type of folding fan is the brisé fan, consisting only of decorative sticks with no pleated leaf. The sticks are typically carved or pierced, and held together by a ribbon which is either glued to each stick or threaded through pierced openings at the top of the...

 

Ivory Brisé Fan with Applied Decorations

One of the most remarkable things about this fan is the decoration on the upper portion of the sticks. It appears to be a very nice design with flowers, birds, and butterflies. But a closer look reveals that the birds and butterfly wings are actually made of real feathers...

 

 

Purses & Reticules

Knitted and Netted Purses

Netting was a popular pastime from the mid-18th century through the early 19th century, and was practiced by both men and women. Whereas men generally worked on utilitarian nets for use in fishing, hunting, or gardening, the favorite object for women was the netted purse....

 

Beaded Sovereign Purses

These tiny, flat coin purses — called sovereign purses in England — were often kept inside the larger reticule, or hung from a chatelaine. They were sometimes pretty enough to double as an evening...