How could I have not known about these beautiful -- but slightly disturbing -- pieces of jewelry? These lovely brooches and necklaces are Georgian Eye Jewellery from 1790--1820 housed at the Victoria and Albert Museum. There is something so magic realist about them -- the shape of the pin, lined in jewels echoing the interior painting of the eye -- itself so expressive.
Here's a description from the V & A : "“Eye miniatures came into fashion at the end of the 18th century. In France, where eye miniature seems to have originated, the eye as symbol of watchfulness was adopted by the state police for buckles and belts. In Britain it had a role as a love token, with some eye miniatures glistening with a trompe-l’oeil tear, or a diamond set to imitate a tear. Most eye miniatures are unsigned, due to the minuteness of the background, and often the name of the person whose eye is depicted is unknown.”
The custom was said to begin with the Prince of Wales in the late 18th century with his then mistress Mrs. Fitzherbert. The idea was to be able to exchange anonymous tokens of love without anyone being able to identify the lovers. It became fashionable among the aristocracy and then died out in early 1880s. The pins are almost overwhelmingly female (and the pins were never worn by men) which has led to the speculation that they may also have been given as gifts between sisters, or female friends.
See more of the Georgian eye pins in the V & A collection here at Retronaut.
