CategoriesJewelry and Fashion Object Types
Brooches
Ornaments pinned to clothing, from ancient cloak fasteners to gem-set Art Deco clips and the brooch as a miniature artwork.
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About
The brooch began as a working fastener. The fibula, a pin with a spring and catch, held cloaks together from the Bronze Age, and early medieval Ireland produced the Tara Brooch (about 700), covered in gold filigree, amber and enamel. Later brooches carried feeling as much as function: Victorians wore mourning brooches holding locks of hair, and sentimental pins traded as tokens.
In the 1930s Van Cleef & Arpels patented a mystery setting in which rubies and sapphires sit on hidden rails with no visible prongs. Since the 1960s makers of art jewellery have treated the brooch as a portable picture or sculpture: Wendy Ramshaw worked with geometric precision, and Bettina Speckner sets old photographs into metal alongside stones. Look at the pin and catch, since simple C-shaped catches usually predate safety clasps, and at the finish on the back.
