E.M. WELSH -Silver Name Pin - Late Victorian Memorial Brooch

Here is an unusual collectors piece.  It is a Victorian English Sterling silver brooch which has the name ‘E.M. WELSH’ in uppercase fancy lettering and has lots of embellishments in the form of applied engraved flowers and  leaves and  then to the outer edges applied silver balls in the Etruscan style.  This is typical of high Victorian - very decorative!  It would have been gifted as a memorial brooch with the reverse showing an applied oval panel with the message ‘FORGET ME NOT’. 

It is a very nice example of an antique Victorian silver sentimental brooch. The brooch is in good condition, but the ‘c’ clasp has been re soldered to the reverse where it fastens.  This covers the ‘F’ of the first word. But this is a collectors pin and it’s flaws and restorations over it’s one hundred and thirty year history make it very affordable!  Measuring just over 4cm  by 2.25cm this pin is a larger sized item. 

In the 1880’s Sterling silver jewellery became popular for everyday wear following the alteration to duty on silver and was mass produced using the new machinery. This brought small jewellery pieces into a price range that more people could afford. Many items were made in an area in Birmingham fondly named  Britain’s Jewellery Quarter. All manner of Brooches were produced not just names but flowers, leaves, commemorative, hearts and birds. Some set with paste or gems, some enamelled - all affordable and novel.  The Victorians and Edwardians liked these sentimental brooches and pins.  The origins of the Name brooch, pin or badge was to 'label' the staff in large country houses. Later name pins were used as love tokens or sweetheart jewellery and there are examples of all kinds and a wide variety of styles and names, initials and so on. You can find name brooches in Sterling silver, Gold, base metals, metal wires, carved in Whitby Jet, Bone, Ivory and Mother of Pearl and also in enamel finishes. These great pieces of sentimental jewellery make wonderful Christening gifts and are a great collector's item for anyone interested in the Victorian era and the first part of the 20th Century.

JEWELLERY DETAILS

Designer or Brand: None 

Country of Origin: UK - Birmingham 

Condition:  Good

Decade: 1890s

Era: Antique Victorian

Type:  Memorial Brooch - E.M. WELSH - Forget Me Not.

Hallmarked: No 

Material: Sterling silver