brooch silver agate

In 1851 Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire. They developed a great love for Scotland and enjoyed visiting as frequently as possible. Their enthusiasm led to a general growth of interest in all things Scottish. This included a fashion for romanticised Scottish style in dress, home decoration and jewellery.

This brooch is of a type called 'Scotch pebble' jewellery. Based loosely on a medieval cloak pin, it is in a deliberately primitive, simple design, set with uncut stones or 'pebbles'. The stones used are agates and Scottish Cairngorm quartz, which were particularly popular. Their soft colours and speckled surfaces were intended to evoke the muted tones of the native landscape.

This style represented a great novelty in the mid-Victorian period, as it was the direct opposite of the elaborate, often gaudy appearance of much jewellery of the time.