Brooches

My dad was an antiques dealer, he is sadly no longer with us, so I have to rely on my faded memories and my mum to remind me of his work and how much care and love he had for antiques and vintage.

I remember the smell of newspaper when I was very little, and the excitement of helping him unwrap all his vintage and antique treasures. Special days, precious memories. My dad would buy English antiques and sell them in his home country, Germany - so as you can imagine he would often buy very typically English antiques for the German market.

My mum happened to tell me today one of their 'best sellers' oddly enough were mourning brooches. I know very little about them other than they were very popular in the victorian times and were often black or dark, sometimes with a lock of hair from the deceased.

Although they were once worn at a dark time, a time of grief, looking at them today you can't help but admire their beauty. I have posted a few pictures above of mourning brooches from various different eras above.

I would like one of my own, without hair though - sorry but that's a little too creepy for me! I have purposely not pictured any of those with hair weaved into them or curled inside, most of them seem to have some lock of hair, interesting as they are I may leave them for another day. I'm definitely going to learn more about them anyway.