Featured A wee note on tube hinges

It's often said that these didn't really get going till the 1850s or so. Sunday's Antiques Roadshow included a stunning gold Scottish hardstone brooch. C clasp, proper tube hinge. And an engraved dedication for 1848. Useful reference, that.

 

Love info like this.
Thankyou

 

I've a brooch with a tube hinge that's engraved 1838 or so ... so take the dates with a grain of salt.

 

For that matter, when did brooches that were strictly decorative rather than functional, i.e., not something to hold your clothes together like a fibula or a penannular, become a thing? Pendants, beads & rings have been around forever, but brooches...? Even award medals were worn around the neck to begin with.

 

Speaking of brooches, it would be great to be able to see the entirety of Queen Elizabeth's brooch collection. I suppose it was not really hers, but anything you have unlimited access to works just fine. I just loved seeing which one she would wear on any given occasion. They were (are) just breathtaking.

 

I think a bunch of them really were her property. I've seen the odd piece here and there but not en masse, the way the late Queen Mary would have rocked them. (now that old gal was a joolie)

 

Decorative brooches are ancient. Yes, they may have been to hold clothes but in decorative terms, it's at least Ancient Egypt. There's some glorious Roman and Saxon ones.

 

Strictly decorative brooches, without a physical function (fastening clothing), evolved from two types of brooches:
1. The early Medieval insignia which people wore (or had to wear) as a sign of their position in society. In some parts of Europe these insignia were obligatory for a longer period than in other parts
2. Religious/protective brooches, like the IHS brooch Jane Seymour is wearing on this 1536-37 portrait by Hans Holbein. Religious/protective brooches are worn to this day.

 

Any possibility it was made a bit later, in remembrance of an 1848 event?

 

No, it was definitely made in 1848, it wasn't a later commemorative. It was presented by Queen Victoria.

https://tellymix.co.uk/tv/635888-an...brooch-bram-stoker-book-rolex-gmt-master.html

 

Were these pinned on or sewn on?

 

What I'm trying to learn, when it comes to brooches as we generally understand the term today, as an item of personal adornment that attaches to clothing by means of some type of pin, can be repositioned & removed, is what sort of findings predate the tube hinge, for those pieces earlier than c. 1848 that do have a hinge?

Before writing this post I rummaged around in my own collection, seeking out brooches I believe, based on a variety of factors but not including hallmarks or inscriptions, to be no later than very early Victorian. They all have tube hinges & simple C clasps. What I note is that my specimens, all cameos, are mostly fairly small; many have the pin running vertically rather than horizontally; some with the pin stem attached to the cross bar of the hinge in the simplest manner, others with a bit more finesse. I cannot discern a time progression in this last feature, the way I can with the vertical/horizontal positioning.

In short, I believe the tube hinge really got going well before the 1850s, was in use for a long time, & is less useful for dating than are orientation, pin stem length, clasp & any other safety features.

Finally found a Renaissance example that is not revival:

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_WB-152

 

There's a wonderful emerald salamander brooch in the Cheapside Hoard, but I can't find a back image. I've seen some early ones, and they were fairly simple hook type thingies, from memory.

 

Interesting topic and marvelous brooch! Did you notice the Museum stated: modern back, mounted as a brooch. So, I don't think one can ascertain much about the earliest use of the tube hinge from that.

 

Yes, you're right, this Renaissance brooch in the link has "modern" (19th) back as said in the Museum's description. I first was by the pic .