These are a lovely example of late Victorian mourning jewellery.

Mourning jewellery first became very popular with the passing of Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. Victoria was so devastated by his death, she dressed in mourning clothes for the remainder of her life. Such pieces were an outward manifestation that the person had not been forgotten, a 'memento mori' - a reminder to the living of the inevitability of death as well as a status symbol.

As the 19th Century wore on mourning jewellery became more ornate and decorative and these earrings (circa 1880) are a good example of that. In good condition, they are inlaid with silver pique, and consist of double hoops, which were very fashionable. They are particularly unusual as they are made of real siver pique, whereas pique was normally a mix of gold and silver. They are very wearable and look great on.

Pique jewellery is no longer being made and fine pieces like this one are continuing to rise in value. Most pique jewellery was done in tortoise shell, made from the hawksbill turtle Pique (pronounced pee kay) a technique of decorating tortoiseshell or Ivory with fine inlay of gold or silver.