Victorian Pressed Horn Bracelet - one of two

Pressed horn is the natural horn of an animal, dyed and pressed into a mold to form jewelry. Victorian mourning jewelry invited this material into their design work as Whitby jet became sparse. Mining of Whitby Jet began in the early 19th century, and by 1850 there were fifty jet workshops in Whitby. After Albert's death, Queen Victoria decreed that only jet jewelry was to be worn at court for the first year of mourning. By 1873 two hundred jet shops opened up in Whitby.

Today it is illegal to mine jet in Whitby because the only jet left is found in seams of the cliff walls over the town, removing what is left from the cliffs would cause them to tumble.
Due to the shortage of jet, many imitations began to appear. One of these, French jet, is a black glass produced in the United States from 1893 by the Libbey Glass Company in Ohio. The United States also manufactured 'English Crape
Stone' which is a material made from onyx, then abraded with acids and colored to produce a dull, black finish. Vulcanite was introduced as an American invention made from sulpherized rubber and carried visual similarities to jet. Other imitations such as dyed horn and early plastics also appeared.

This beautiful set of Victorian pressed horn bracelets invites you to embrace the creative ingenuity of material supplementation and design.

CONDITION & MEASUREMENTS

This bracelet set made of victorian pressed horn beads were restrung using parts of a necklace. One bracelet has six medium sized beads and one large in the center. The matching bracelet has seven medium sized beads with one large center bead. These can be restrung to match in length if so desired. There are a few minor chips on the inside of a few beads but the outer faces are in beautiful condition. The first bracelet measures 31/4" length the second bracelet measures 3 1/2" in lenth. The large center beads are 1 1/2" tall, 1" wide. The medium sized beads are 1 1/4" tall and 3/4" wide.

ITEM # vic10 / 89H220A

Cost $145.00 USD

 

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