A pair of Victorian carved hands, each emerging from a fluted cuff, fingers closed around a spray of roses and foliage.
The hand-holding-flowers motif is one of the most loaded in Victorian iconography — friendship offered, remembrance, the gesture of a parting gift from a loved one. The piece sits firmly in the visual language of Victorian mourning jewelry.
Carved in vulcanite — the hardened rubber material that became the workhorse of Victorian mourning jewelry alongside jet. Vulcanite was prized for its ability to hold fine carved detail, and the most elaborate pieces of the period were often worked in this material rather than jet itself. The carving here is exceptional: leaf veins, the turn of each petal, the bracelet of fine gold chain encircling each wrist — all rendered with a sculptor's precision.
- hand-carved vulcanite
- 15 karat ear wires
- 15 karat gold chain bracelets at each wrist
- circa 1870s
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