This bracelet is part of a jewelry set made of silver pave-set with iron pyrites. The bracelet has a central eight petalled-flower set with iron pyrite flanked by two sets of graduated shamrock pairs. The bracelet closes with a slide clasp.
bracelets (jewelry)
pyrite
silver (metal)
Steel
Mica
Bracelet
Jewelry sets such as this were tourist souvenirs made from the locally-produced iron pyrite crystals often called "Irish diamonds." Other popular Irish motifs included in this set are trefoil shamrock leaves. For more on this type of jewelry and to see a similar set in the Birmingham (UK) Museum of Art, see Charlotte Gere and Judy Rudoe, Jewellery in the Age of Victoria (2011), 496.
Original to Castle Tucker (Wiscasset, Me.),
Unknown
7 x 1.25 (HxW) (inches)
Gift of Miss Jane S. Tucker
1998.4924.1
Ireland (British Isles, Europe) [island]
Historic New England is committed to implementing reparative language description for existing collections and creating respectful and inclusive language description for new collections. If you encounter language in Historic England's Collections Access Portal that is harmful or offensive, or you find materials that would benefit from a content warning, please contact [email protected].