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Victorian Bog Oak & Stanhope Whistle Drop Earrings

741H
Written by Olly Gerrish

An extraordinary pair of Victorian carved bog oak whistles that work! They have been been made in to earrings at some point but what an original pair to wear! They also have Stanhope peeps with “A memory of Rothesay” in one. The other is not there. During the Victorian era, Rothesay developed as a popular tourist destination. It became hugely popular with Glaswegians going “doon the watter” (down the water, where the ‘water’ in question is the Firth of Clyde), and its wooden pier was once much busier with steamer traffic than it is today. Rothesay was also the location of one of Scotland’s many hydropathic establishments during the 19th century boom years of the Hydropathy movement. A Stanhope is a miniature convex lens, binocular or monocular, that can be used to view tiny photographic images. Victorian jewellery made use of this technology to add a new dimension to novelty jewellery.
The idea evolved from a process invented by John Benjamin Dancer c.1839 that used a microscope lens on a daguerreotype camera to produce microphotographs. He eventually invented a wet plate process for printing these microphotographs onto glass slides. Rene Dagron (1819-1900), a Parisian portrait maker, used Dancer’s process to affix images to a miniature magnifying convex lens and implanted these tiny photographs and viewers in manufactured novelties, jewellery and souvenirs. The translation of this use to novelty and souvenir objects was mistakenly named for the lens invented by Charles Stanhope, not for the actual lens used, a Codding Magnifier invented by Sir David Brewster.

Delivery Estimated FREE Australia Delivery
21st–23rd May

The Essentials

Item Number:
741H
Materials:
Measurements:
Height 4cm. From top of wire to base 5cm.
Provenance:
Irish
Discovered:
8 years ago

Hallmarks

Very Good

Ring Sizing

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We are pleased to offer FREE SHIPPING on all purchases to our customers in Australia.

All orders are fully insured and dispatched securely from London by our trusted partner, DHL Express.

Estimated Arrival to Australia Shipping
21st–23rd May
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Returns

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Australia
Customers from Australia will pay for return postage and any customs, taxes and duties applied
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Customs & Duties

We calculate all customs, taxes and duties at checkout, to ensure a smooth journey with no unexpected fees along the way.

When purchasing items over 100 years old:
- Customs, taxes and duty DO NOT apply
- We will mark your package as 'antique, over 100 years old', to ensure no unexpected additional fees

When purchasing items under 100 years old:
- Customs, taxes and duty DO apply
- All customs, taxes and duties will be calculated at checkout and added to the total cost of the order
- Small, shipment-related fees, in the region of $40.00-$80.00, can also be added later and vary from state to state. The AJC cannot take responsbilitiy for these fees.

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