Victorian Whitby Jet Carved Pendant

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Beautiful black Whitby Jet jewelry was created as a nation mourned the loss of Queen Victoria's beloved husband in 1861.A year earlier Queen Victoria's mother died. As an only child, mother of nine children and ruler of the United Kingdom, Victoria entered a period of mourning lasting fourty years.Women draped themselves in jet necklaces, bracelets and pendants.In the United States, many women were also mourning the loss of their loved ones in the Civil War.

This two dimensional Whitby jet pendant is two inches long and one and one half inches wide. The gold bale is set for a ribbon or string of jet beads to be worn as a choker, or high on the neckline.Pendants with this detail and two dimensional construction are rare. The pendant comes from a family estate outside London.