MARY Silver Name Brooch with Scottish Thistles- Victorian - Hallmarked Birmingham 1900 (SOLD)

Although this lovely Victorian Name Pin was made and halllmarked in Birmingham it has a Scottish flavour - to one side of the name are two engraved thistle flowers so this pin is for a Scottish Mary!   The Victorians loved sentimental jewellery and this name brooch is a great example of the kind of jewellery that was popular at the turn of the Century.   It is reputed that these name pins were first worn by the servants in England's large country houses.    The pins quickly became a form of sweetheart brooch.  The popularity of the brooches continued  through the Edwardian period into the 1920's and there was a revival of these items during World War 2.  Materials used for name brooches include Silver, Gold, base metals and rolled gold wires, sometimes they are set with gems, diamante or paste or marcasite.  Names are also engraved and sometimes painted onto natural materials like  ivory, bone or Whitby Jet and early plastics like Bakelite, Celluloid, Casein and Lucite.  It was also popular to make brooches with the words 'Mother' and 'Baby' ;  with initials on or letters which make up a name in the form of a puzzle; with place names upon them or simply with sentiments like 'Best Wishes', 'Mizpah' (an old hebrew prayer which  translated  means 'may the Lord watch over us whilst we are apart' ) or the words 'Souvenir'. 

Back now to Scottish Mary!  This silver brooch measures 1.25 inches in length and is approximately five eights of an inch at its widest part.  As well as the engraved thistles there are other engraved decorations all over the pin and the letters which spell out the name are applied in block capitals.  The brooch is in good conditon but it is worth mentioning here  that there is an extremely long pin on this piece of jewellery!