Rare Gem

Pam’s Pictorama Post: Today I am veering off my cat course to write about a recent jewelry purchase. October, the witchy month of fall, is a perfect time to write about opals as it is the birthstone for those born this month. I must be an October baby at heart because I never seem to get enough of them.

I write today with some trepidation because I know I will not be able to photograph these gems properly to give you a sense of the glorious fire and snapping color they sport when you see them in person and moving in the light. In fact, when I bought the necklace above on an auction site recently, I was taking a bit of a chance as their photos were lousy too. I admit up front that none of these photos do the beauty of these glittering changeable gems any justice.

Pictorama readers may remember that I wrote about my love of opals quite extensively in posts that can be found here and here. Two opal rings were given to me as gifts, but I am not sure I can easily remember which was the first opal I purchased, although there are two necklaces I bought from my friend and jeweler (@murielchastanet_finejewelry) on the west coast many years ago. One is of opals from New Zealand and the other is made up of flat Ethiopian opals.

*New Zealand opals cut in slices! This was the first necklace I purchased and I have never seen one like it since. This came to me via Muriel Chastanet’s store in Los Angeles.*

The necklace I just purchased is the sibling to that one – in blues instead of oranges but I believe they are Ethiopian opals. Because I owned that one I recognized this one right away and took a closer look. They looked interesting however there was no way I would pay nearly as much from an online auction as I had paid to a trusted jeweler. I can say that these could easily look like a meh string of overpriced beads.

This necklace is the second opal I have bought from this auction site (I purchased a ring, shown below, more or less uncontested over the summer) and I think I keep looking because frankly opals don’t seem to sell well for them. Unlike strands of pearls and jewelry from contemporary designers opals, luckily for me, do not seem to be popular.

*The yellow/orange beads came from the wonderful Muriel Chastanet establishment. I have tried to show them together although not a great pic!*

So I gather that the premise of the auction house, called Everything but the House, is to essentially clean out houses and estates and sell every last thing of value via live auction on their site. A league of experts in different areas descend on you and voila – they put it all online and sell it. They had (have?) a television show devoted to it I saw a few years ago. I’m always curious what will turn up in such random slices of life and collections. However it never occurred to me to look at the auctions until good ole Instagram marketed it to me.

Yes, while other people are fretting about politics on social media, I am just spending money like a drunken sailor. It started during the pandemic and has burgeoned over time. Before that I largely confined myself to eBay and a few well known toy auctions. Not now – I’m making deals for things I spot in photos, have all sorts of obscure auctions on my calendar and the folks at Live Auctioneers totally have me in their clutches, emailing me reams of images daily they think I should see. (I seem to largely get outbid on that site as I am rarely there for the finish and true to their name a lot of action seems to happen in the final minutes.)

*The other ring I bought from this auction house, shown in an antique ring box from my collection.*

In the end I was not the only bidder on the necklace but I got it for very little. I did something I almost never do. When I saw an outbid email I went back and put another small increment on and won it.

My father’s mother went to auctions all the time and furnished her house and then some with her purchases. (For my dad it was estate auctions but more about that another time.) In her day those were of course in person and she would come into Manhattan from Westchester for them. She always said to set your limit and do not allow yourself to get chased above it. I’m sure she’d forgive me on this occasion however. (You can read more about Gertie, aka Tootsie, Butler here. I dearly wish I could have one afternoon as an adult talking to her about the auctions she went to!)

*My orange “circus” beads in their original box.*

Anyway, long story short I won the necklace and it arrived via Fedex the other day. Even at the price I paid (a true small fraction of what I paid for my other one) I was somewhat on pins and needles to see it. Oh man, I was not disappointed. It was sent unromantically but effectively wrapped in a bit of bubble wrap which I quickly sliced open.

I could see the changing color and fire in the stones immediately. Unlike my other necklace these are each faceted, unlike my other ones where are each smooth. The clasp and stringing is perhaps a bit inferior, although they still lay nicely on my neck where they have largely resided since I got them. It seems no matter what I wear they pick up the color and shoot it back differently! On the first day I wore a green top and it took on a slightly green blue hue, red makes them more blue as does black.

I always call my other strand my circus beads (oh to go to that carnival!) and now I have two. Lucky girl! I have not yet figured out if I can wear them together but I find them incredibly cheerful and intend to wear them often.

Opal Oddity

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: In the rhythm of Pictorama posting, jewelry posts tend to appear a bit randomly, as items are purchased or catch my imagination over again. I have written about my passion for opals before and in particular for a ring I wear very often which is referred to as a boulder opal. (That post can be read here.) This is a recent acquisition post.

The charm of the boulder opal (for me) is that it was caught in the act of becoming an opal – forever frozen in the process of change. Wearing this ring so often I have had time to reflect on how much I like that aspect of it. Embracing growth and ongoing change is such an important aspect of life, I like reflecting on it when I look down at the ring and see it’s tiny flares of opal fire.

*From my post on the boulder opal ring, shown here in the original listing.*

Yesterday a friend was looking at some gem stones at a jeweler we know. One stone she mentioned seeing was lapis on one side and malachite on the other – fascinating! Forever frozen in their native fusion in a shared atmosphere for their evolution. I haven’t seen the stone, but the concept makes my mind twirl a bit.

Therefore, as a result, I keep my eye out for boulder opals which have been snatched from the wilds and made into jewelry. I saw a newer silver ring recently and agonized a bit – I didn’t like the setting so I would want to reset it and the stone was hard to see in the online posting. It sold and I still have mixed feelings about my choice not to buy it.

However, a few months later this necklace came up and from a seller I have never bought from or much seen in my feed before. (The seller can be found at http://trademarkantiques.com.) They were celebrating and promoting October’s birthstone, the opal. The pendant flashed before me in a video in a series of opal items and I snatched it up immediately.

The setting is such that it is clear it is the same dawn of the 20th century period as my ring. (This makes me wonder, was it a sort of thing at the time that fell out of fashion? If I keep looking is this the period I will largely find them from?) Upon receiving it in the mail, I realized that the bezel (the do-hickey where you string the chain through) is unusually small. Luckily I had a very thin gold chain the belonged to my sister, but the fragility and weight of it on the chain worries me a bit.

I gather that the idea of a boulder opal is that it retains some of its “host” rock. I am not clear if that is what is happening in this pendant or if it was manmade or something else entirely. I’ve done my best here to show you that it is a clear sphere chock full of tiny opal bits. These bits are full of fire when the light catches them – the essence of the charm of opals. A little research turns up the answers to my questions – once I figured out the right question to ask, always a trick with Mr. Google.

It turns out that this is a technique called floating opals. This method of suspending bits of opal in a glass orb filled with liquid. The idea for floating opals was created and patented by Horace Welch, a mechanical engineer, in 1920. From what I can find online this would be one of those early designs although others snatched up the technique after his death in the late 1940’s.

*From the website where I purchased the pendant.*

While the development of this may sound straightforward as a technique it was fraught with issues. Most notably, opals have a large percentage of water in them. This is in fact one of the things that contributes to their being quite fragile. (I once met a woman who sold fabulous high-end vintage jewelry and she told me never to wear my opals on an airplane, especially large ones. The altitude makes them crack. I worry about even shipping them by air now as a result.)

Just floating them in glass didn’t allow for their natural expansion and the sphere would crack. Ultimately Welch settled on the newly discovered Pyrex as his medium and a design where there is a space, hidden by the bezel, which allows for natural expansion and contraction. The “liquid” suspension appears to be confirmed as glycerin which also allows for the natural expansion and contraction of the tiny flecks of opals stones.

Mine has a patent mark (barely visible under a strong loupe) of 1931, the third of four patent marks on his jewelry. The site I found with much of this information gives tips for storing the pendant which I am grateful for (away from other pieces which could damage it), in an upright position if possible (have to think about that…) and of course away from temperature extremes. The chamber can be damaged it seems and air can get into it.

The pendant, which I have not done justice to here, is like a tiny snow globe (I love those too!), worn around my neck. It is infinitely cheering.

I will of course continue to look for boulder and now early floating opals. There is something else called a fire opal (bright orange!) and I have yet to find one that fits my collection. Opal lovers, more to come I hope.

Bare Bones

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: Today’s jewelry post might seem familiar to some longstanding readers. You’d be right because the skull on this necklace is the mate to a ring I have had for about 8 years. At least I think I may have included it in a prior post (or not since I can’t find one) and I have mentioned Muriel Chastanet Jewelry in Los Angeles, a family business where wonderful jewelry can be found. You all know that in addition to antique cats, I am a woman who likes her jewelry.

While I don’t know the precise history or age of these skulls there is a Victorian tradition of memento mori bone skulls in jewelry. The Victorians were notoriously fascinated with the ultimate connection to death and the idea that we should mind that life is fleeting and can end abruptly, therefore we should make use of today. (Skulls and those made of yak bone in particular, were and are a popular Tibetan motif and I own some necklaces of carved skull bones from my trips there. They are distinct in their carving style, often made into what we might think of as rosaries and different as shown below.)

*These Tibetan bone beads available on the internet.*

The skull in this pendant and that of my ring are extremely similar, with the pendant being slightly larger and arguably more finely detailed. Different kinds of animal bones were used really as a visual substitute for ivory which was more expensive although still used at that time.

However the carving on both of these these is particularly fine and while many bone skulls labeled Victorian or Georgian are available, with a quick look just a few at auction have this much detail and are as nicely carved. The skulls are both in new settings. I saw the ring for sale about ten years ago now. At the time I didn’t think I was leading the sort of professional life where a large skull ring set in gold was appropriate. (At the time I advised older people on charitable gifts through their estate plans – a Victorian skull ring seemed a little pointed!)

When I left the Met a few years later to take the job at Jazz at Lincoln Center somehow it didn’t take long for the ring to roll back into my consciousness. I reached out and asked if by chance it was still available and Gizelle laughed and said that it was clearly meant for me and no one else. I wear it frequently and receive many compliments on it. The markings of the bone and the carving etched into my mind from staring at it day in and day out.

*My much worn ring with a similar antique skull bead.*

Fast forward a number of years. I always knew she had a couple of more of the skulls which could be set and the idea of a pendant nagged at me cheerfully for a bit and I finally told her I wanted it. For a number of reasons many things slowed the design and execution on both sides and it was about a year before it was completed and in hand.

Gizelle made the thoughtful suggestion that as my mother Betty had passed recently what would I think of including her initials in the design? That seemed very meaningful and as you can see there are intertwining B’s for Betty Butler in the back. (All of the photos are in antique boxes I have collected and are in no way connected with the skull pieces.)

*The back with a double B for Betty Butler.*

The skull is somewhat heavy, perhaps too much for a gold chain I decided and so thus far it is living on this silk cord quite happily. It will never be quite as intimately familiar to me as the ring since it lives on my neck and I don’t get to look at it daily the same way. I rarely wear them together (that is a lot of skull, let’s face it) although I sometimes I can’t resist. I have read that Victorian jewelry is becoming more popular and influencing current designers. I am ahead of the curve on that one I think and this one, with Mom’s initials tucked in, is most special to me indeed.

Neatness

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: Some Pictorama readers will remember previous posts on a small (but now clearly growing) collection of medals I have acquired. These award pins I assume were given out (at school?) to encourage various virtues.

I found one for Improvement and purchased it for my birthday in the winter of 2020. It was meant to commemorate how well I felt I had grown into my job over the first few rough years there. I had spotted it while getting some jewelry repaired – probably one of the watches, they seem to need to go frequently. Anyway, I fell in love with the idea. I do like encouragement.

That one and the one that came after for Excellence, purchased on eBay, were both made of 10k gold. This too amazed me. There was a time when real gold medals were given as awards to children at school. Man, I was happy when someone put a sticker with a star on my paper! (A post on the prior prizes can be found here.) I would have been over the moon for one of these pins – as I am sure the youthful recipients were.

I believe I only got to boast Improvement on the lapel of a jacket a few times before the world shut down for the pandemic. A few years later Excellence joined on the same jacket and people would frequently remark on them. (One of my staffers surprised me as he had read the post here.)

In many ways Neatness is another whole kettle of fish. Unlike my others, this one is made of silver. The other two date from 1910 and 1945 respectively. This one dates back to 1881! (This was clearly a longstanding tradition. It should be noted that my Excellence came from Canada, so we know that it was popular there too.)

I wonder how far back does the tradition go? Of course many of these were considered special and therefore saved over the years. Once I got the hang of the right search numerous ones seem to pass through the portals of eBay and Etsy. I am highly selective however about the message and have to have some sort of kinship to it.

This one is so special though. I love how it has a star shape and hangs off a banner – both declaring Neatness and the date above. It is a little like being the sheriff of neatness. In the center of the star shaped charm it also says 85 and I have no idea what that refers to since the date is so clearly marked as ’81. Twice on the back, top and bottom, it has the recipients initials and this gave me a giggle too. They are N.P.B. so it was in a sense clearly meant for me.

*Back of pin. Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.*

Alas, I’m afraid however that an award for neatness is indeed only aspirational in my case. I may strive for it, but neatness is more of a goal than a given. It is unlikely I would have earned it. As I look around our treasure filled single room abode, let’s just say neatness is not a concept it was built around. Our books and my toys and photos grow like topsy and cat hair and New York sooty dust is to be kept at bay. Luckily we now have the house in New Jersey for some of our booty.

Still, when it came up for sale via my Texas team on Instagram @Curiositiesantiques (or via their website here) I knew it should be mine. While Jason and Sandi thoughtfully keep a weather eye out for things that might interest me, resulting in a mounting number of cat related items of various kinds, they may not know that these are a developing passion.

I am told this pin belonged to Terry, Jason’s mom – thank you Terry! (A few prior purchase posts from this Dallas duo can be found here and here, for starters.) Sandi as a regular reader knew I might find it of interest. Here’s to hoping I find myself in Dallas and can meet them one of these days – or perhaps a meet up at Brimfield. Hmmmm. A girl can dream.

I need to find the right jacket to pin this to, although maybe a black sundress will do for summer. I always think that it’s good to have ideals and I will indeed strive to exhibit and embody all these desirable qualities.

Lights

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: Today’s is perhaps a odd post. Although Pictorama readers know of my passion for all things vintage cat, there are numerous other well worn paths of buying and collecting here at Deitch Studio. Sometimes these wax and wain, but many have long legs. There are the clothing equivalents, black cotton t-shirts and undershirts to wear under jackets, sweaters and sometimes even dresses. Then there are running socks which despite my best efforts lose their mates over time so it always seems like a good idea to buy more or resign myself to being mismatched.

*Tin box that holds my collection of cards (get well, sympathy and birthday) here at home.*

Among my more interesting ongoing buying interests are boxes. It is as if by supplying myself with enough boxes some day I will actually be organized. (An extremely popular post about the antique tin box that helped organized my home office during the pandemic can be found here.) The boxes, in all sizes, continue to come, but the organization a bit less so.

Just yesterday I wrote about a sardine box I will use for odds and ends (I think I have decided it is heading for the bathroom in New Jersey for hair ties and whatnot which the cats steal otherwise) and today I sit surrounded by a group buy of early jewelry boxes that just came from Britain.

*A ring that was a gift and is in its original box.*

I think the largest of these will also go to New Jersey to store a few things there, away from prying cat paws which twitch to grab and play with them while I sleep. I may share one with a friend as well. Ring boxes are a great luxury but do require that I remember which one lives where so there isn’t a scramble in the morning – nor do I want to forget about anyone and have them go unworn. Most if not all are lined with old, worn velvet and many bear an inscription from a jeweler of another time and place. (Of course it is always very special to find an antique bit of jewelry in its original box, that which it has lived in from its very beginning.)

*Popeye lamp acquisition which now resides in New Jersey.*

Another purchase itch which is a bit more unusual is lamps. I seem to exist in a world with little or poor overhead lighting and as a result for both homes and office it seems an ongoing need. I have written about some of those acquisitions here and here. I will confess though that I have my eye on two more – a rather comical dog lamp which I have bid on in an auction and another attractive desk lamp.

At the office right now I have a lamp made of antique dice which has followed me since I purchased it for my return to the Met back in 2001. However, the light in my current office is dreadful even and I am considering another desk lamp. What I really need is a standing lamp, but those are especially hard to source and given the ceiling leaks I would have to be very judicious about where I located it.

This lamp below crossed my path on eBay and I am tempted although I would say this is more a NJ lamp than an office one. I think it would be a lovely light either on a desk or even on a bedside table. Thoughts?

Part of me understands that there will be a point at which I have enough lamps, but I don’t quite seem to be there yet.

On an even more practical side of things there are bowls. If I was in New Jersey I could share a large number of bowls purchased for that house which seems oddly bereft of them. Soup bowls and serving bowls. For that kitchen they are all new. Here in New York I try to fill in with vintage ones that match my blue and white ware china (the Blue Plate Special dishes inherited from my grandmother and a post on those can be found here) such as these which were purchased on a day in Cold Spring, New York last fall.

*One of two blue and white bowls from a buy in Cold Spring.*

So for now, these “practical” collections seem to amass until one day I am tripping over too many of whichever. Stay tuned for updates on those pending above however as that time has not come yet.

Cat Cameo

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: Being in New Jersey inspires me to push along with my mother’s estate and closing out various accounts or putting them in my name. I had been dragging my feet about closing out the credit card as numerous things were tied to it, but there were many charges that started to accumulate which I was unable to track down (New York Times, this means you), and so I decided I really needed to take it on the other day and settled in with the tv and some light work to do as I consigned myself for a marathon phone wait.

The wait turned out to be reasonable and after a litany of questions (I had the special joy that my mom had continued using a card in my dad’s name despite him dying in 2018 – they loved that) which had to be worked through, I finally accomplished it. The next morning, as I went to file the paperwork I had used the day before I realized…there was a second credit card. So later that afternoon, I consigned myself back to the phone fiesta and settled in for a longer wait.

I got the anticipated wait and someone decidedly less sympathetic eventually came on the line. She demanded some info which I needed from my dad’s death certificate and stayed on the line while I went rooting around for it. While I had my arm deep in the file cabinet (where it was tucked to one side) I found a little jewelry box marked APA since 1848.

After I finished my long hassle with the woman from Chase and effectively closed down the “hidden” credit card account, I decided to have a look inside the box. Much to my surprise I found a lovely little cat cameo. This morning after taking a photo of it and blowing it up I confirmed that etched in the back is, 14k 1985. This would coincide with a trip my father and brother took to Greece that year. They stopped over to visit me spending a year living in London.

APA appears to refer to an artisan family descended from a fellow named Giovanni Apa who was a master carver establishing the business in 1848 as per the box. Today there is a showroom Torre del Greco, nestled at the foot of the Mount Vesuvius. From a quick look the showroom is as much museum as salesroom and the artisans work on site. They are primarily known for cameos and jewelry made of coral. Sadly their online shop is not accessible right now however.

I have no memory of my dad bringing this home from my mom but since I wasn’t living home then it is possible I never saw it. He had a great eye for jewelry, inherited from his mother as far as I can tell – I have always believed that my flea market gene came from her via my dad who was an veteran garage sale shopper. It screams of dad’s taste.

While I’m sure mom liked it very much the truth is mom never wore jewelry. She was not even especially attached to her wedding band and engagement rings (which she gave to me and my sister) and I can only remember her wearing them infrequently and until a certain age.

I can barely think of an occasion where she wore a necklace, bracelet or other ring. She had a pair of pearl earrings (which I also have) which she may have worn to a wedding or the like somewhere along the line. (She did have a few pieces of Art Smith and a post on those can be found here.)

This little cat happens to be of a sort I have wanted for a long time. He’s a slightly rotund little fellow, tail wrapped around he feet. One of my all time favorite pieces of jewelry in my collection is a horse cameo where an old cameo was put in a ring. (A post that includes the history of that piece can be found here.) I have always wanted a cat companion, either a cameo or micro-mosaic of a cat ring. Made in the traditional way it is as close to the esthetic of the antique one as possible. Although I may try wearing it as a necklace I suspect I will wear it more as a ring. I will ask my friends at Muriel Chastanet in Los Angeles if she would like to take a try at it – so follow up future post to come. Seems to be a fitting find for someone who inherited five cats and is heading to a new job at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center.

Reddy, Set, Go!

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: This might best be described as a you may never have seen it coming post, but I do like to mix things up occasionally and these earrings were a recent unusual acquisition.

I believe my introduction to Reddy Kilowatt was the lightbulb lamp. I can’t now remember if I saw it on American Pickers or if it was an auction – I want to say I saw it both ways maybe and just can’t remember which first. I fell hard for it, but me and extremely fragile objects like this don’t have a promising future so I never pursued ownership of one especially at the rarified prices these fetch. Still, a seed of fascination was born.

*Listing photo from a Hake’s sale catalogue.*

I am surprised to learn that Reddy was designed all the way back in 1926, hailing from Alabama as a commercial ploy to increase electric consumption. (Yes, it is hard to imagine a time when we perceived the need to increase our use of electricity.) Wikipedia says he was imagined as an “electrical servant” and notes that his ears are wall sockets and of course his nose a light bulb. It is interesting to find that his image is still currently under copyright.

As for the earrings, I was late to stumble on a sale by one of my favorite sellers on Instagram a few months ago (I think it was a @marsh.and.meadow.overflow sale) and realized that I had just missed these rather splendid Reddy Kilowatt earrings. I had never seen this rarified item before and I had a significant ping! of disappointment. Much to my surprise and delight howevr, this pair which sports their original card, turned up in my feed about a month later via @oldghostsofhollywood who happily sent them right off to me.

As someone who cannot wear pierced earrings I was additionally pleased that these earrings re screwbacks so I can actually wear Reddy. The front of the card reminds you that Reddy is, The Mighty Atom and the Symbol of Your Investor-Owned Utility Company. Inside he greets you, Hello: I’m Reddy Kilowatt, your good Electric Servant who works long hours for low, low wages. Just think of the many jobs I do in YOUR home…office..farm…store or plant…then think of how little each job costs! The copyright here is 1955.

*Inside of earring card. Pams-Pictorama.com collection.*

He is also Your Favorite “Pin-Up” and on the back it reads, I’m a Busy Little Atom, I split myself in two and multiply as many times as I have jobs to do! I’ll work for you for pennies, I’m fast, efficient, steady…so any time…to ease your work – Just “plug in,” folks – I’m Reddy! Your Electric Servant!…

When I revealed today’s topic to Kim he shared that there was a Reddy Kilowatt comic book of some note. Although our research did not turn up one that precisely matched his memory, there was indeed a comic book which came out in 1946 as an EC giveaway. Stories and art are identified as by Del Porter and others in one listing. I am told that the book relates Reddy’s story from ancient times until modern day and evidently includes a special Reddy Kilowatt polka complete with music. A reprint seems to team him with the story of Thomas Edison in another edition.

The post war period created an opportunity for increased electric usage and Reddy grew in evidence with a proliferation of trinkets (tie, stick and lapel pins, cuff links and bracelets are all available online) and a litany of other giveaways. Disney was approached for a cartoon in ’43 which never moved forward and it was Walter Lanz who brought him to animated life in a short film which came out in March of 1946 and the comic book was actually produced in conjunction with this film.

*Page from the comic book which is available on various sites online.*

Wikipedia says that there was an attempt to trot Reddy back out in the 1970’s as a mascot for energy conservation, but somehow this spiffy little energy spendthrift dynamo could not make the transformation and he did not achieve renewed fame in his new role.

Onward and Upward

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: I purchased this pin back in August and it arrived during an especially hectic period while I was traveling and Blackie was in the kitty hospital. (He is slowly returning to his handsome, suave, feline self. I have promised him I will not post any photos of him until he is back to his full glory however.) I have written about my occasional dysmorphia when buying online – slightly enormous and smaller than anticipated toys show up all the time. (A post addressing that can be found here.) There is, for example, a huge wax cloth Uncle Walt doll on our shelf that I have not found a proper spot for yet. (Future post, I assure you.) Most famously, there is a beloved Mickey Mouse by Dean’s Rag that was a store display which is the size of a six year old in our bedroom. I have taken to measuring more often, which lead to my not buying a rather splendid Felix decorated drum that came my way. Alas, life in a small apartment.

I had my heart set on this sterling silver Victorian arrow as soon as I saw it posted in a coming attraction reel with some other items posted by one of my go-to’s, @marsh.and.meadow (Heather, one of these days I will be in Ohio with the band and say hello!) and I set my cap for it. I was admittedly rushed when it came up for sale. All this to say, I had not really stopped to consider that it’s three and a half inches is about an inch longer than expected. But it is a solidly beautiful item and frankly, it has sat on my desk where I have just delighted in it over recent weeks.

*We all want to be Excellent! Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.*

Although it is silver there is something vaguely more industrial looking about it, like steel. It is wonderfully solid looking. It was clearly meant for a scarf, shawl, hat or bulky knit sweater. While I had originally envisioned securing it, pointing upward of course, to the lapel of a blazer it is too thick for that and I am now thinking winter coat or hat – which assumes I will leave recent years of nothing but an outer attire of an old down storm coat and watch cap behind and resume wearing a nicer wool coat and with some attitude. (This also assumes that the moth farm I have inadvertently cultivated has left me a shred of wool to wear.)

*Back of the pin. Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.*

There are certain symbols that appeal repeatedly to me in jewelry. Although my recent fascination with insects confounds me somewhat (posts on those can be found here and here), I have collected a few old school medals which provide unabashed encouragement – Improvement! Excellence! – and a post on those can be found here. I like the idea of a sly advertisement or hopefulness, a horseshoe perhaps, and a bit of encouragement for myself to be found in my pins.

*A favorite insect pin, also coincidentally from Marsh.and.Meadow.*

I am far from the first person to wander down this path and for example it has been done much more intelligently by the likes of Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State, as she famously signaled her diplomatic intentions with her pins. I like arrows and have been looking for one for awhile. Somewhere I have a nice rhinestone one I acquired all the way back in high school, but I cannot find it and as a friend of Kim’s says, if you can’t find it you don’t own it. (It has become a mantra in this house!) I have made a few attempts to purchase pins that depict Haley’s Comet (yes, those are a thing) which is more like an arrow shooting out of a star.

While piercing is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about arrow, the symbolism of the arrow goes beyond being a badass. They represent triumph over struggle, strength and perseverance. And of course optimism, upward, let’s go this way. I think it is always good to acknowledge triumph over struggles, both large and small, and also a good reminder to be pointed on the path upward and ahead.

Opal

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: I don’t think I have ever opined on my affection for opals. I’m not exactly sure of the evolution of my fascination, but at some point I fell hard for opals. I was discussing this passion with Kim this morning. It may be the organic and individual nature of opals that fascinates me – each one with a different fire, a unique sensibility, hard to capture.

Opals are sensitive to shifts in humidity and moisture and one jeweler of antique gems told me that she is even careful about wearing them on airplanes as the shifts in altitude could cause cracking. I believe they are somewhat soft as gem stones go.

I cut my teeth on opal collecting teeth with the purchase of two necklaces, one from Australia and the other from New Zealand (both acquired via @murielchastanet_finejewelry) which appears to be one of the world’s natural El Dorados of opals, over a long period of time as they were significant indulgences.

Opals can be (generally are) very expensive, but my strings of opals can pass for nicely strung cheerful beads – circus beads I always call them, not calling attention to themselves unless you know what you are looking at. It is the endless variation and change in each light and against different colors that fascinates me, a never ending display, different each time.

*Australian opals; Pams-Pictorama.com collection*

The ring I am writing about today was purchased online right before I got sick with Covid. An IG dealer (@marsh.and.meadow) had previewed the ring and I asked for a heads up when it went on sale. The notification came while I was at work one night – in the middle of a set at Dizzy’s – and I bought it with having seen only one small photo and with no idea of the price! Absolutely no regrets – I was thrilled to have gotten it and I have nothing like it, nor am I entirely sure what it is.

*Slices of New Zealand opals; Pams-Pictorama.com collection.*

Heather (aka Marsh and Meadow, whose daughter is named Opal incidentally) identified it as a boulder opal which I would say is very likely. When I research a bit I would also say a fire opal is possible as well, hard to tell and I welcome better informed opinions if any. Heather noted the setting as pre-1900, 10k gold – the doom of the stone .5″ from the setting. For me it appears to be an opal in formation, as if someone managed to catch it in the very act of becoming an opal, an entire world captured within, trapped in my ring.

*This is the listing photo by Heather Hagans – a much better job than I can do!*

Because I got sick immediately following buying it, the box sat unopened for a bit before I rallied enough to open it. What a treat! (Strangely I also acquired a very old, gold bracelet from Australia at the same time which also waited through my Covid period before being revealed. What was going on in my pre-Covid brain I wonder? More to come on this but I was on a bit of a jewelry tear – all extraordinary things though and some very old, future posts all.) I felt better immediately – the healing value of jewelry.

As some things do, it became an instant favorite and I have worn it several times a week ever since. I never tire of it.

I researched today and opals are formed by the evaporation of silica rich water over millions of years according to Mr. Google. The internet also informs that boulder opals (which evidently all originate in Queensland, Australia) represent serenity of the soul and actualization, but also success and rebirth. If it is a fire opal (mined largely in Mexico) it symbolizes a joy of the heart and a passion for the elements of life, as well as good fortune and success.

If I had to chose I would lean toward feeling the former. I slip it on frequently where it perches high on my hand and encourages day dreaming about that tiny internal opal world on my finger.

Manly Pleasures?

Posted by Pam's Pictorama

Pam’s Pictorama Post: This is a small, but curious item that wandered into the house with some incredibly interesting antique rings I purchased from a woman in the Midwest who goes under the moniker of @Witchyvintage, aka Paula Bates.

Paula (who is always @witchyvintage in my mind’s eye and ear, as I assume I am @deitchstudio to her, my little Italian Felix toy avatar her only image of me), has an Instagram account most notable in my estimation for really extraordinary vintage early American clothing.

There is something endlessly fascinating about seeing the shoes and dresses she presents for sale – some wearable and others fragile now and better suite for study. Sunbonnets that made the trip west, jackets with leg-o-mutton sleeves, capes and undergarments; cottons, silks and muslins.

The parade of boots she sells surprise me each time she posts them. Wear is evident on them, but they look remarkably well for having made the trip from the 1890’s. (My Nike spoiled feet scream in horror at the idea of wearing them, but they could easily be fashionable today.) I don’t need to own these (luckily for her there are others who feel different and she seems to do a brisk business), but I am addicted to looking at them and considering the lives these items have lived.

*For sale on the Witchyvintage online store.*

I have, on occasion, purchased jewelry from her, although less frequently than the folks in Britain I have written about (some of those posts here and here) or another favorite young woman in the Midwest who I have a soft spot for, @Marsh.and.Meadow, aka Heather Hagans.

During the shutdown period of the pandemic I found myself revisiting my interest in antique jewelry. Both because of its history (somehow objects with a past remind us that we have a future), and because buying it was putting a stake in the ground for the time I would start wearing jewelry again.

*Ring purchased from Paula. I happened to have this screen grab from showing her which one I wanted. Lucky me, it came with this lovely box!*

That time is slowly emerging now an my lapels are festooned with a collection of early 20th century insects, and rings sometimes adorn my hands again when I go out. A gold bracelet hallmarked 1895 sits from a vendor in Australia (@madamebrocante) on my right wrist. With a recent purchase of two rings (such indulgence! – I will write more about those another time after they have been fully considered for a bit), this interesting card was tucked in with a somewhat less compelling cabinet card shown below.

It is a bit larger than an average business card. Nothing is printed or written on the back. I can’t really imagine what purpose such a card might have served. And there is the obvious question of how is a woman’s hand reaching for a bird’s nest among flowers a manly pleasure? Am I missing some obvious or subtle Victorian symbolism? I love it, but it is a little hard to figure the guy who wanted to use this card.

As far as I can gather it is indeed a man’s calling card, although obviously lacking in a printed name – did they perhaps write their name on the back? Evidently, men’s cards were longer and thinner than women’s of the day, designed to fit better in a vest pocket. I especially liked the detail that if a caller left a card personally the right corner was generally folded down in as a way of denoting that the effort was made. A corner might be folded to indicate that he was there to see the entire family, and the litany of rules for unmarried women was intricate.

Kim and I both fell hard for this little item and we would like to find a way to get it and a few other of these tiny items up on our (very crowded) wall where we can admire them daily. Thank you Paula! A very nice bonus!

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