VICTORIAN Whitby jet earrings beautifully carved, 7/8".   View   #V28872

   VICTORIAN lady wearing a jet cameo brooch, earrings and pendant. Carte de viste marked "L. Abell, Kendal Lane, Leeds".

 VICTORIAN Whitby jet earrings with dental edge and round bead center, 5/8".   View   #V28787 

VICTORIAN French jet (black glass) crepe textured earrings on 10k yellow gold wires, total 17/8".   View   #V31778

VICTORIAN French jet (black glass) flower earrings on 10k yellow gold wires, flower 1/2".   View   #V31777

VICTORIAN Whitby jet heart shaped beautifully carved flowers earrings, one cracked on back but wearable, 3/4" hearts.   View   View   #V29891  

VICTORIAN Whitby jet earrings with faceted oval and links, circa 1870, 1-1/2" jet length.   #V33041

VICTORIAN carte de visite of a lady wearing faceted jet beads necklace and earrings. "A.&G. Taylor Photographers to the Queen".   View   #Vkph46

VICTORIAN Whitby jet earrings, carved and faceted circle and faceted bead, circa 1870, 1-1/4" jet length.    #V33043

VICTORIAN vulcanite carved suspended teardrop shaped earrings, black portion 2".   View   #V32062

VICTORIAN earrings, French jet faceted hoops on 14k yellow gold wires, 1-1/3".   #V32053

VICTORIAN earrings, Whitby jet drop earrings with ball tops, 2-1/2" total length.   #V32054

VICTORIAN earrings, black painted ball earrings on yellow gold wires, 5/8".  #V32055

VICTORIAN earrings, bog oak roses and leaves earrings on yellow gold filled wires, 1-1/8" bog oak portion only.   View   #V32057

VICTORIAN earrings, French jet (black glass) faceted drop earrings on gold filled wires, total length 1-7/8".  #V32058

VICTORIAN earrings, black log and floret drops earrings, unknown material, total length 2-1/8".   #V32059

VICTORIAN earrings, vulcanite fern-shaped with gold dots, French jet (black glass) tops on gold filled wires, 2-3/4".   View   #V32063

VICTORIAN earrings, black bell earrings with yellow gold filled clapper beads, total length 1".   #V32061

VICTORIAN Whitby jet carved flower earrings with ruffled edges, circa 1880, 1-1/2".   View   #V34088

VICTORIAN pink shell cameo set in jet earrings circa 1860 with original shepherds hook wires, 2-1/3" total length from top of wire to bottom of earring. Very similar jet earrings can be seen on page 102 of "Old Jewelry, 5th Edition" by Jeanenne Bell.   #V33161

VICTORIAN Whitby jet double Maltese cross pierced earrings 1-1/8" jet portion only, 1-1/2" total length. These are complete with original Victorian fittings just as they were made circa 1880. Like many jet earrings, these are light and easy to wear. 

This very special piece is from the personal jet collection of Katy and Helen
Muller, authors of the books on jet jewellery. I am so very privileged to
have it and other pieces from their private collections. It is guaranteed to be genuine and all original Victorian Whitby jet. Their books "Jet Jewellery &
Ornaments" and "Whitby Jet" are the best books written on the subject.   #V36611

  JET is the black fossilized wood of a particular tree that grew millions of years ago. It is particularly associated with the English town of Whitby where much of it was fashioned into jewelry and accessories. While jet was made into jewelry throughout the 1800's, it was especially fashionable between 1860 and 1890. Like amber, it will pick up paper when static is created by rubbing it on wool or silk.

VULCANITE (also sometimes called "ebonite") was made by combining and heating sap of the Euphorbia or Ficus trees from Malaysia with sulphur. Invented in 1843 by Thomas Hancock, pieces made of vulcanite were almost always molded, not carved, and it was used mainly in making jewelry.

HORN is the natural horn of an animal, pressed into a mold to form jewelry.

BOG OAK is fossilized wood or peat found in Ireland. It is a brownish-black, and has a woody texture.

FRENCH JET and CREPE STONE are black glass, and not truly jet at all. Like all glass, they will be colder to the touch and heavier than jet or vulcanite.

BOIS DURCI was invented by Francois Charles Lepag in 1856. It is a composition of fine hardwood sawdust and blood which is pressed then highly polished.

GUTTA PERCHA is the sap of the Dichopsis tree also found in Malaysia. Invented by William Montgomerie in 1843, it was used mainly in technical articles, e.g. driving belts, stoppers, tubs, pails, cups, washing drums and cables. It was also used for household purposes such as mouthpieces for whistles, sticks and riding whips. It was very rarely used for jewelry.


Pieces like these, circa 1860-1890, can be seen in Helen Muller's book Jet and in Christie Romero's Warman's Jewelry, Ed. 3 on pages 51 and 52.

    VICTORIAN jet round carved drop earrings, 5/8" beads.   #V29116 

VICTORIAN lady with fancy hat and vulcanite necklace.   View

VICTORIAN jet carved earrings, 3/4".   View   #V29892

     VICTORIAN jet faceted screw back earrings, 5/8".   View   #V27802 

 VICTORIAN French jet (black glass) pierced earrings, 1/2".  View   #V26447 

VICTORIAN jet earrings, 1/3" (small studs).   #V27205      

 VICTORIAN faceted French jet (black glass) drop pierced earrings, one with a tiny chip at the bottom, 1-3/4".   #V28782

 VICTORIAN jet drop earrings, 1-1/3" jet segments size , 1-1/2" total size with wires.   #V29815

VICTORIAN jet faceted drop earrings, 1-1/3".      #V29921

  VICTORIAN jet tie pin, helmeted warrior, 1" by 3/4" head on a 2-3/4" stick.   View   View   #V29905

    VICTORIAN jet carved flower stickpin, 1" head with 2-5/8" stickpin.   View   #V29218

 VICTORIAN jet pink shell cameo stick pin, 7/8" head.   #V28063  

  There are several materials used to make mourning jewelry, and they can be very difficult to distinguish between: jet, bog oak, horn and vulcanite. Jet was hand carved, while the other materials were pressed or molded.

For information on identifying these and other materials, see the booklet "What's It Made Of ?" by Sherry Shatz. 
 

     VICTORIAN bog oak pin cushion with original tag.  View   #V25897

    VICTORIAN bog oak pot, hand carved with shamrocks, carved piggy and shamrocks lid and on delicate feet with bail.   View   #V31533

    VICTORIAN  bog oak pot marked Dublin 1907, 1-1/3" .  View   View  #V27217

  VICTORIAN carved jet umbrella handle with grapes and leaves design, 6-1/2".   View   View   View   #V29117

VICTORIAN bog oak thimble holder with thimble, 1-1/8" by 1-1/3".   View   #V31208

 VICTORIAN bog oak pig with etched harp and shamrocks for Ireland design, 2-1/4" by 1-1/2".   View   View   #V30058

 VICTORIAN Irish bog oak harp table ornament, 5-7/8". See page 26 in Helen Muller's "Jet Jewellery and Ornaments".   View   #V27218

VICTORIAN Whitby jet Caedmon Celtic 2-1/2" cross on 1-1/3" ammonite ("snake stone") stand.   View   #V27658

VICTORIAN bog oak harp hand carved with shamrocks, wonderfully detailed, 3-5/8".   View   #V31532

VICTORIAN Whitby jet hand carved handle and silver little bookmark, 4".   View   View   #V31982

JET carved ferns cigar holder with sterling fittings hallmarked "H.T." Chester 1918, 3-5/8".   View   #V32202

 VICTORIAN Whitby jet bookmark, 3-1/3".   View   #V32219

VICTORIAN bog oak Irish shamrock carved boot hook, 7".   View   #V27652

     VICTORIAN bog oak box carved with shamrocks 2-2/3" by 1-2/3" by 1-1/4".   View   View   #V27790   

VICTORIAN bog oak 12" by 1-1/2" shamrock carved truncheon.   View   View   #V30094

VICTORIAN bog oak whist stand, etched "Killarney" and shamrocks, 2-1/2" by 2-3/4".   View   View   #V30059

 VICTORIAN jet love, faith and hope charms, 1".  See page 90 of Helen Muller's book "Jet".  #V25189 

 VICTORIAN bog oak shamrock-shaped pin tray with etched shamrocks and harp for Ireland, 3-1/3".   View   View   #V30057

    VICTORIAN jet carved book charm, Bible on one side and cathedral on the other, 3/4".   View   #V27659

   VICTORIAN bog oak charms, 2 pigs, 1 shamrock, approximately 1/2" each, and jet heart and 5/8" book charm.  View   View   View   View   View  #V27791 

VICTORIAN jet horseshoe charm, 7/8".   #V27899
  VICTORIAN tiny jet book charm with carved abbey motif, 3/4".    #V27250

VICTORIAN jet book charm with etched flowers design, small 1".   View   #V28549

VICTORIAN Whitby jet book charm with etched stars and leaves design on both sides, circa 1870, 1-1/4" by 1".   #V28548

VICTORIAN Whitby jet book with lightly carved design on both sides, circa 1870, 1-1/8" by 3/4".    #V29134

VICTORIAN jet book charm, tiny carved 3/4".   #V28552

VICTORIAN jet book charms, large 1-1/4".   #V28548
ALL THREE

VICTORIAN Whitby jet hand carved stick pin circa 1880, 3" long by 3/4" top. An amazing amount of detailed carving for such a small piece.   View   #V33295

VICTORIAN jet Whitby carved red lead pencil , 4-7/8".   View   View   #V33047

VICTORIAN Whitby jet hand carved inkwell, circa 1880, 1-7/8" tall, 2" base and 1-3/4" top, very rare.    #V33046

VICTORIAN vulcanite match box, book like with "FEU" (French for fire) on the spine, 2-1/2" by 1-1/2".   View   View   #V33081

VICTORIAN Whitby silver napkin ring with blue enameled shield, 1-5/8" across by 1" wide.    View   #V31592

WHITBY EPNS (electro-plated nickel silver) souvenir chrome plated lobster eating implement with red and blue enameled Whitby emblem, circa 1930, 7-1/2".   View   View   #a31806

WHITBY souvenir "British Manufacture" marked five-hole mini flower pot, 3-1/4" by 2-1/4".    View    Xa31961

VICTORIAN vulcanite hand mirror with a mistletoe and landscape design, an unusual vanity article.    View   View    View   View   View   #V51103

VICTORIAN jet pen and pencil set with matching hand carved designs and Whitby Abbey, 5" long. Sets are rare and this set is particularly lovely. The third piece is a red pencil with the name "Whitby" on the handle.   View   View   View   View   View   #V33165

VICTORIAN Whitby jet hand carved cigar holder with carved nude woman in seashell with fig leaf, circa 1870, 4-1/4". It is carved entirely out of jet, and the hollowing out of the pipe part is amazing in itself. Jet can be brittle and is not easy to carve at all.
Her top or right leg is totally free and you can see light between it and the shell and left leg except at her foot, where it touches again. The rest of her body is visible at the front and both sides, but attached to the shell at the back.
Her neck is free from the shell on 3 of 4 sides with only the very back touching and a hole almost invisibly drilled behind it, done on purpose but for what reason I cannot say. Her face is lovely and detailed, and even her fingernails show.
This is the work of a master carved, and my friend Katy says carving of this caliber would usually have been done for a competition in which the carver would want to show off his best skills. Pieces like this are not often found any more.    View   View   #V33038

"Jet" by Helen Muller

Copies of the book can be obtained by contacting Helen Muller's daughter, Katy:  Email Katy  

Helen Muller