Featured Brooch with Dangles

Hello again,

This brooch is completely unmarked. The little circular bits seem to be almost gilded but it is very faded and tarnished. It doesn’t look like gold or silver but I liked the twinkling noise and of course it came home. Anyone know this style of brooch? Or how to clean it without damaging it?

 

I think it’s called Solje: https://www.google.com/search?q=solje norwegian jewelry&tbm=isch
They usually are silver and the dangles are gold over silver.. I’ve seen them as 925 and 830 silver as well

 

Thanks for the new word, Xristina. BMRT, I found a pair of earrings that are only a fraction of your entire brooch and they seem like they have a following....
https://www.etsy.com/listing/159250...aT22A-fA-PX_1fdCrzkJUPZQhOgfCooxoC0lwQAvD_BwE

 

Wow. Pricey but beautiful.

 

Looked them up and yes, most def similar! But I wonder if they usually are marked or not?

 

Not always marked in my experience.. I’ve had a couple of unmarked ones..

 

Yes it is a sølje brooch, traditionally worn at Norwegian weddings. I believe sølje means seal (not the animal). The antique ones are usually not marked.
We have a few threads on søljes, btw.

 

My computer is being difficult, so it took some time, it freezes with every thread I open. Anyway, here are some:

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/blue-enameled-brooch-anything-helps-please.45514/#post-1463996

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/makers-mark-norway-silver-sølje-brooch-help-please.27698/

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/norwegian-makers-mark-on-silver-sølje-wedding-brooch-help-please.20814/#post-282227

One in sølje style:
https://www.antiquers.com/threads/i...us-fir-symbol-makers-mark.46031/#post-1537221

 

Very pretty. Sort of looks like 35 M, I don't know. Might be worth checking out. I have no idea what that means by the way.

 

They turn up every so often. Manufacturing styles didn't change too much so it's sometimes hard to tell how old one is. They even used tube hinges well into the 20th century in some cases, or so I'm told.

 

it looks totally Viking !!!!! ..Cool piece !!!!

 

Forgot to say in the freezing computer frenzy, I love it.
I have a modest collection of sølje brooches. They aren't all silver with gilded mirror dangles though. I have some enameled gold over base metal, much like the one Xristina posted in january. Also some enameled silver, and even goldplated mounted with glass 'stones'. The dangles can be spikes and other shapes as well.

 

Chiming in: Sølje [solje, English vers.] is Norwegian short for silver or silvery. This type jewelry is worn in all the Scandinavian countries on regional folk costumes. The traditional costumes are hand-tailored to the wearer who usually keeps and wears it for life, passes it on to daughters, d-i-l, or nieces. All materials are handwoven by artisans who do nothing else, sewn by expert seamstresses.

Mine came to me from my parents for my 26th birthday. I was already living in the U.S. then, my parents still lived in Sweden. My measurements were sent by letter to mother who gave them to the seamstress. When my parents came to visit me in New York in 1968, they brought the costume to me.

The brooch holding the white cotton shawl together is sølje, sterling, purchased new for me, with matching drop earrings. This costume only came out on special occasions and one was my employer's Christmas party in 1988. It's hard to see the brooch on me but at least it shows how it's worn. Regrettably I couldn't find any closeup picture of the brooch; I still might.

 

Nice to meet another Norwegian!

 

Very nice, Liz.

 

I have an old one. It turned up here in a yard sale. The family had no clue and neither did I, at least of what it was. How it ended up in a Connecticut yard sale... no clue about covers it!

 

@Any Jewelry Thanks, AJ! Sorry the brooch doesn't show up better. Tried enlarging image, it didn't work.
@Kathy Anderson You another Swede perhaps, or is Anderson your married name, and you Norwegian? Me only 15% Norwegian, 55% Swede according to my ancestry DNA info. The balance is spread out over England, Germany and The Netherlands, 1% Finland I think [go figure...]
@evelyb30 That your sølje brooch turned up in Connecticut is not surprising. CT, all of New England, has a long history of Scandi immigration from way back. Or, someone in CT could have visited Scandinavia and bought one of course

 

We got a lot of Swedish folks at one point, and even some Danes.

 

'Sølje' means 'brooch', somehow over time, it's come to be commonly used for any bunadsølv (traditional costume silver) with dangles, and yes, I use it too, easier than going into technicalities. Hallingdal maker Sando's site is my favorite for bunadsølv - it has numerous pieces shown by region, for men as well as women, and good descriptions, handily available in English, as well this page on the 'Hidden Messages' in the brooches: https://www.bunadsolje.com/en/category/6/1.html

I like this one, very Dragestil (dragon-style) in design, would doubt it's really traditional, but more intended for the tourist trade (suspect it has some decent age to it, perhaps a true antique) - looks like the stamping is fairly thin, and there may be a light mark that was struck gently to avoid distorting the design, have seen marks struck too hard, causing the mark to appear on the front too (they're also sometimes marked on the front, around the edge)...

~Cheryl

 

I stand corrected: Sølje is interpreted as brooch. Wikipedia in Norwegian states:
"...I moderne språk brukes betegnelsen sølje også om andre smykker som brosjer eller halsknapper med heng, som inngår i draktsølv som brukes til folkedrakter eller bunader."

Loose transl.: In modern language the description sølje is also used on other jewelry such as brooches or necklaces with a pendant that belong in dress-silver used in folk costumes or bunader [village/folk costumes].

In Swedish, however, the word sølje is not used, only in Norwegian. Swedes call this type jewelry folkdräktssmycken.