Victoria's Accessories

TOOTH TALES

Victoria’s Have you ever thought how nice it would be to wear an extracted wisdom tooth on a gold chain around your neck? According to the BDA’s Head of Museum Services, Rachel accessoriesBairsto, memorial jewellery featuring teeth became popular in the nineteenth century.  

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n the death of Prince Wearing mourning jewellery began as a  Albert in 1861, Queen simple way of keeping a loved one close by Victoria went into and developed into an elaborate art. Teeth mourning and the were often included, such as this adult practice of mourning, incisor set in a gold pendant (1). or memorial, jewellery With high infant mortality ‘Wearing mourning jewellery becameO an unmistakable and intricate rates in Britain’s industrialising part of life in Victorian Britain. It became cities, infant mourning jewellery customary for women to mourn for up to was common. This gold pin brooch with began as a simple way two years after the death of a loved one. two baby teeth set on a gold chain is one There were three stages to the mourning example (2). of keeping a loved one process and only after the first stage was Queen Victoria was also known to use completed, after one year, could mourning jewellery to commemorate events in her close by and developed jewellery be worn. An industry developed life. For example, her eldest daughter’s first to supply women with appropriate clothing milk tooth was incorporated in a piece. into an elaborate art.’ and accessories, including mourning Hair, teeth, claws and other animal parts dresses, capes, mantles, hosiery, gloves were often made into elaborate pieces. and jewellery. Prince Albert used to present his wife with Objects intimately connected with the love tokens from hunting trips. They were dead person were often incorporated into often an ornate piece of jewellery containing the jewellery. A common example was hair, stags’ teeth. This signet ring (3) contains which was intricately woven into a knot a deer’s tooth and this pendant contains a design for brooches. boar’s tooth (4).