Regency-Era Presentations, by the Best
Candice Hern – bestselling author, Regency fashion scholar, speaker, and collector – has several presentations available for writers’ groups, general interest groups, libraries, and Jane Austen organizations.
She would be pleased to speak at your next group meeting, conference, or library event. Candice also allows certain items from her collections to be displayed at libraries or museums, upon request.
Contact Candice for her availability, or for topics not listed below.
Current Presentations
The grand parures of precious gems worn by royalty and other aristocrats of the Georgian and Regency eras are what we see in paintings and in museums. But the ordinary people, who could never afford such pieces, favored a more sentimental type of jewelry, which was accessible and less expensive.
The sentiment of such jewelry fell into two categories: the sentiment of love and the sentiment of death. In this presentation, Candice will explore both types, including symbols and iconography of mourning and of romance, all of which would have been well understood by people of the time. The use of hair in both types of jewelry will also be discussed.
Find out about neoclassical mourning brooches in Candice’s Regency World →
Candice’s presentation will include lots of images of mourning jewelry and love tokens from museums, jewelry dealers, as well as many examples from her own collections, including mourning brooches, lover’s eyes, Georgian hearts, and lace pins.
Find out about Lover’s Eyes in Candice’s Regency World →
This presentation can be either in-person or virtual. For in-person events, Candice will bring examples of sentimental jewelry from her collections for attendees to view.
Contact Candice about bringing this presentation to your venue.
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Candice will provide a short history of silhouettes, known as shades in Jane Austen’s time, and their various techniques (scissor cut, hollow-cut, painted). Some of the most famous professional “profile miniature” artists will be singled out, as well as a few famous amateurs, including the King’s daughter. The various Austen family silhouettes will be discussed, including two purported to be of Jane herself.
This presentation can be either in-person or virtual. Augmenting her presentation, for in-person events, Candice will bring many examples of silhouettes from her own collection to provide a closer look at some of these miniature treasures.
On display will be both silhouettes framed as pictures and mounted as pieces of jewelry. Magnifying glasses will be available for attendees to more closely examine the exquisite details of the smaller pieces.
Find out about painted silhouettes in Candice’s Regency World →
Many of Candice’s silhouettes, including the locket shown above, were painted by the same artist who painted the famous silhouette of Jane Austen’s sister, Cassandra.
Contact Candice about bringing this presentation to your venue.
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On Exhibit