For about thirty years in the late Georgian Period (1714-1830) what became known as lover’s eye Jewellery became fashionable.
It is easy to imagine why these small objects hand painted on ivory or card ignited the imagination. Unlike previous centuries where little paintings ( miniatures) were of the head and shoulders of the sitter, these were just of the eye.
Miniatures were gifted between spouses and family member’s especially coming up to an absence like a son going to war. Lover’s eyes were favoured by couples particularly clandestine ones. The enigmatic nature of the painting, and the speculation that it would provoke would have added to the mystery of the item.
The eye of the lover adorned lockets, rings, brooches and extended beyond jewellery to small objects such as snuff boxes and small vessels. They were often surrounded by gemstones such as rubies or diamonds or particularly pearls that had the added significance of representing tears.
First images is a rose gold locket with a border of pearls with a contemporary drawing of a lover's eye. The second is a lover's eye brooch c. 1800 England. Both the painter and the sitter are unknown. The symbolism of sorrow is reinforced in this brooch by the rose cut diamond 'tears'.
