Silver, gold, enamel, amethyst, pearl

H  5.60cm (2.20 in)  |  W  3.10cm (1.22 in)

The particular choice of these colours in this pendant is believed to be directly related to the Suffragette Movement. These colours were used by the most prominent suffrage group in England the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) The symbols of these colours were referred to by Mrs. Pethick-Lawrence, treasurer and co-editor of the weekly newspaper Votes for Women. Literature: Votes for Women, Spring 1908: 'Purple as everyone knows is the royal colour. It stands for the royal blood that flows in the veins of every suffragette, the instinct of freedom and dignity...white stands for purity in private and public life...green is the colour of hope and the emblem of spring.'
Original fitted case, the silk marked: 'Jewellers, 35 Alfred Place West, Child & Child, Queen's Gate, Gold and Silversmiths'

Literature
Illustrated in our book:
Beatriz Chadour-Sampson & Sonya Newell-Smith, Tadema Gallery London Jewellery from the 1860s to 1960s, Arnoldsche Art Publishers, Stuttgart 2021, p. 85
Helen Ritchie Designers & Jewellery 1850-1940, Jewellery and Metalwork from the Fitzwilliam Museum, 2018, pp. 130-31 biography
cf. Pre-Raphaelite to Arts & Crafts Jewellery, Charlotte Gere & Geoffrey C. Munn, 1996. Child and Child were specialist art jewellers. They were patronised by artists from the Pre-Raphaelite circle including Edward Burne Jones, William Holman Hunt and Sir Edwin Lutyens and by members of the Royal family such as Queen Victoria, King Edward V11 and Queen Alexandra, King George V and Queen Mary, and Alexandra, Empress of Russia

Ref No   7321

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