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Inauguration is always full of fashion symbolism, and as a jewelry enthusiast, I’m always looking for reasons to talk about jewelry and symbolism. There were two big jewelry stories today: pearls and doves.
Pearls are special to VP Harris as an Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA), one of the oldest Black sororities in the United States, whom she credits for much of her political and personal successes.
Like many Greek social clubs, there are many objects in their organization imbued with symbolism. Each new AKA member is given a badge decorated with 20 pearls upon initiation. “Wearing the strand of pearls speaks to solidarity among [AKA] members.” https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/08/kamala-harris-pearl-necklace-symbolism-beyond-politics
As reported yesterday, women across the country today pledged to wear pearls (and Chucks) on Inauguration Day to support the country’s first female vice president-elect. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/style/inaugurations-pearls-kamala-harris.html
For cultures around the world, pearls ("the queen of gems") symbolize perfection and incorruptibility, beauty that perseveres through the tests of time, and is highly feminine, often related to the moon.
For thousands of years, pearls have been worn and presented to people of status and wealth and have thus become shrouded in legend and meaning. The introduction of cultured pearls in the early 1900s made them accessible to the masses. http://www.thejewelleryeditor.com/jewellery/article/history-of-pearls-pearl-jewellery-rings-earrings-necklaces/
Like I mentioned in a thread last year, pearl mania really took off after the advent of pearl farming (and later, with the mid-century fascination with the tropics). https://twitter.com/flotisserie/status/1093892540078669825
Many eastern philosophies relate the "flaming pearl" to wisdom and spiritual awareness. Chinese dragons, for example, are often shown with a flaming pearl under their chins or claws.
The "flaming pearl" motif is so ubiquitous now that it's kind of a jewelry design cliche, but this is the design inspiration it's drawing from.
In the United States, we have a lot of interesting history in and around the freshwater pearl industry. Especially in the 1990s when folks went nuts over giant farmed pearls while overlooking much rarer natural pearls. https://www.ft.com/content/71bf7030-1954-11e7-9c35-0dd2cb31823a
Pre-plastics, the freshwater pearl industry was a huge deal in river towns, such as along the Wabash river, where they produced mother of pearl buttons until they overfished the mussels and drove themselves out of business. https://blog.newspapers.library.in.gov/indianas-pearl-and-button-boom/
Pearls are often appreciated as they are, but jewelry designers of yore liked to use the baroque shapes of pearls to serve as pieces of a larger object. Like this little parrot with a pearl belly and head. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/207266
Or this elaborate mounted unicorn pendant, made of another baroque pearl. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/207258
Both of these last two pieces of jewelry are examples of what we call figurals, which leads us to our second big jewelry story of the day: the dove. A figural is a very literally designed piece of jewelry: a bug, a bird, a person, a cat, a pineapple. https://www.rubylane.com/blog/categories/jewelry/what-does-the-term-figural-mean-in-vintage-jewelry/#:~:text=Figural%20is%20a%20term%20used,%2C%20modes%20of%20transportation%2C%20etc.
Trends come and go, but figurals have been around as long as decorative jewelry has been around. They can be low brow or high brow, made of plastic or the finest metals and jewels.
One more pearl figural for my cat people. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/207267
Lady Gaga was wearing Schiaparelli today, and I'm sure other folks will have smarter things to say about that, but this often surrealist fashion house loves to play with figural accessories and has since the 1930s. https://www.lofficielusa.com/politics-culture/lady-gaga-wears-giant-dove-for-peace-while-singing-inauguration-s-national-anthem
In 1938, Schiaparelli created a stir when she created a necklace that looked like insects (figurals) were crawling on the wearer's skin. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/155927
Schiaparelli's iconic fashions of the early 20th century were often in conversation with other surrealists like Dali and Magritte. You can see in this ~1938 photo where the inspiration for https://www.kidsofdada.com/blogs/magazine/15997849-designer-of-the-avant-garde
the fashion house's current, amazing, visionary, to die for and deliciously creepy jewelry line comes from. (Shoutout to the tooth motif!) https://club-schiap.schiaparelli.com/eshop/en/e-shop/jewelry/c/000041?_ga=2.59867693.1667403668.1611165839-409807768.1611165839
(And pearls!)
So Schiaparelli - the woman and the design house - have always been interested in the tension between the literal and the figurative, and jewelry is one of the features of their works over time. No surprise to see this dove on such a large scale.
Birds, man. Birds in jewelry could be it's own book, and doves in jewelry would take up a fat chapter. Doves have so much symbolism over time that this has its own wiki article. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doves_as_symbols
Pigeon-haters, keep walking. Because doves and pigeons are more or less the same thing. But through history, dove-pigeons have been used as symbols of love, peace, pacifism and anti-violence.
Here's an ancient dove earring from 2ndc BC Greece. Notice that the hinge is in the back and the clasp is in the front, which is different than we usually wear earrings today with the nuts and bolts hidden behind the lobe. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/251825
Interestingly, the dove is also used as a symbol of war. Because of its relation to a pigeon - like homing pigeons - they are sometimes seen as here with the Royal Air Force tactical comms unit.
Gaga's dove was clearly a sign of peace today, worn over the heart, and she says as much in this tweet.
I'm assuming if you're still reading at this point that you may want to see some more eye candy. So consider the dove in contrast with the eagle. Eagles, like the national bird, symbolize empire, victory, partiarchy. https://www.antiquejewel.com/en/2ndpage.asp?dtn=09083-4280&titel=Realistic%20French%20strong%20three%20dimensional%20golden%20flying%20eagle%20brooch
There's a long, long history in the West of using doves and eagles in contrast, especially as the eagle is associated with war and state iconography. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_(heraldry)
Here's a large British brooch from the early 1900s. Lots of jewelry makers like to mark the bird eye with a gemstone. https://www.langantiques.com/vintage-jewelry/pins-and-brooches/large-antique-eagle-brooch.html
Put a bird on it, but Phoenician style. Gold earrings with hanging birds and basket-shaped pendants. Phoenician workshop. 7th-6th c. BC.
Here's a sweet little blue enamel bird ring from Calcutta, mid-century.
Birds of paradise were a huge trend in Western mid-century jewelry, likely due to the increase in travel and fascination with the tropics. You can find tons of giant examples in rhinestones in the costume jewelry market now.
A couple more and then I have to work. Some contemporary birds.
Gold, emerald, and pearl brooch: eggs in peril.
I am not an expert in jewelry, I just love antiques and art. If you want some more examples of figurals - some of my favs - I have a gigantic Pinterest board that has many, many, many antique and contemporary examples. https://www.pinterest.com/flotisserie/baubles/
