Description

Vintage Yellow Gold Portrait Mourning Brooch

c. mid to late 1800s

You miss Grandpa. You’re sitting around in your manor house getting dressed for dinner it just seems sad that he’s no longer here to enjoy the seven course meals with you. Solution: what if you could wear grandpa to dinner? Not literally, but his tin type photo, at least? Ta da! Problem solved with this Victorian portrait mourning brooch.

What We Love About It:

Vintage Yellow Gold Portrait Mourning Brooch

We’re not sure whose grandpa this guy is, but if you’re in need of a grandfatherly figure, if you just like to make up fake relatives or if you’d like to put a photo you already have in there, then maybe Richard (my name for him) is your guy and the portrait mourning brooch is your answer. He seems serious and very business-like. I’m not saying you should but you could make up a story that he made and lost the family fortune and had he not lost it all in some crazy railroad expansion scheme, you’d be sitting pretty these days. 😉

The Deets:

Richard is set under glass, in a 10kt yellow gold (tested) frame. His glass is a bit scratched, but when looking at him straight on, it’s not noticeable. The glass does, however, make it hard to get a good photo of the brooch, due to the reflection it creates. The same goes with the back of the brooch, where we find the simple locking C-clasp pin stem (the stem base itself is base metal and likely a replacement) and catch. The back of the brooch is polished to a high shine and so it reflects anything facing its surface. It does have a few dings to the back, but then again, I hope I look this good when I’m its age. It measures 2″ tall by a little over an inch and a half wide and 1/2″ deep including the pin mechanism and weighs 12.50dwt inclusive of all detail.

I love a portrait mourning brooch and and I often enjoy making up stories about who they are and the lives they lived (if you couldn’t already tell that from this post then this will help fill-in the details). For mourning jewelry enthusiasts, this is a must have!