Shell cameos were fashionable throughout the nineteenth century. Based on ancient and Renaissance hard-stone cameos of layered agate, onyx, or sardonyx and kept in curiosity cabinets, shell cameos referenced classical gems, art, architecture, and sculpture, and signified good taste. Beginning in the eighteenth century, finely hand-carved shell cameos were purchased as Grand Tour souvenirs. Less expensive shell cameos became popular among middle class women in both England and the United States after the 1851 exhibition, where many examples of shells and jewelry were displayed. Popular mid-nineteenth-century shell cameos were lightweight and cheaper than finely carved shell examples, and could be produced in a few days with simple engraving tools. This example was probably made from the cassus madagascariensis shell native to the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, which has distinctive white and pink-brown layers. Settings for such cameos were generally fitted into gold-toned frames with minimal decoration.

The portrait bust on this cameo depicts Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906), the famous abolitionist, women’s rights activist, and suffragist. Anthony was nationally known by the 1880s, after she had travelled the United States on speaking and signature gathering campaigns and had repeatedly testified before Congress about women’s suffrage. Because of her visibility, she had many supporters among American women who would have been proud to wear a cameo associated with the leader.

Silver token or charm bracelets such as this example were popular in the United States during the late nineteenth century. The style was inspired by the English “love token” and mourning jewelry made fashionable by Queen Victoria after the death of her husband, Prince Albert, in 1861.

Mourning and “love token” jewelry was often made from the hair of loved ones or contained their personal mementos. American women picked up the trend for sentimental jewelry after the Civil War, when many were looking to commemorate lost brothers, sons, and husbands. By the late nineteenth century, personal and sentimental objects also became popular as expressions of friendship or love, or were a way in which to remember special events. The custom of inscribing coins as keepsakes dates to the late-seventeenth century, and also became an inexpensive way to create customized friendship, love, or memorial jewelry.

As the diminutive size of this bracelet illustrates, young girls enjoyed remembering friendships or events with coin charms. Foreign coins, such as those added to this bracelet, often indicate that an owner travelled to collect the tokens. The original owner of this bracelet, however, was raised among Manhattan’s Lower East Side immigrant community. These coins, along with the range of monograms that are inscribed on them, probably instead indicate the multicultural environment she grew up in or the range of nationalities her friends represented.

According to a note with the brooch, the initials are those of Henry Henricks (1804-1861) or his wife Harriet Tobias (1812-1874). Their marriage united two prominent Jewish families in New York. While hair jewelry was associated with death and mourning in the 18th century, in the 19th century it enjoyed heightened popularity and was considered an indispensable fashion accessory for women by midcentury. Because hair jewelry was not isolated to the sphere of mourning in the 19th century, dating this piece is more difficult. Wives often made or commissioned hairwork pieces crafted from their hair to give as love tokens to their husbands. The size and style of this piece, however, suggests it was worn by a woman. Most likely Harriet had it made for herself from her husband's hair. Despite hair jewelry's place in popular fashion in the 19th century, such objects still had associations with mourning. According to Cynthia Amnéus, a white background, as seen in this brooch, was to used when honoring the departed in later stages of mourning as opposed to black enamel, which was used when the piece was created shortly after an individual's death. In some cases the hair of the deceased was intertwined with that of a loved one left behind. Perhaps Harriet had this piece made with her hair and that of her husband's, which might explain the descendant's confusion over whose hair was used in crafting this piece.

This charming portrait depicts Jane Perry at age seven. The engraved inscription on the frame's reverse suggests that Jane was the niece of Lydia C. Mount (b. 1846), the donor's great-grandmother. However, genealogical research has not yielded a connection between Jane Perry and Lydia Mount, or any other members of the donor's extended family.

(Tillie) Marion Metz Greene (1908-1985) of Flushing, New York received this jewelry set from her husband, Leo A. Greene (1908-1954), during the 1940s. Greene was a New York City housewife who raised her family in Flushing, Queens from the 1930s through the 1960s. According to the donor, Lois Greene Stone (one the couple's daughters), garnets were her mother's birthstone.

This object was owned by (Tillie) Marion Metz Greene (1908-1985), acquired during the 1930s and 1940s. Born in Manhattan, Greene was a New York City housewife who raised her family in Queens during the 1930s through the 1950s. Greene was born in New York, the child of Russian immigrant parents. Prior to her marriage, she attended classes at City College of New York and worked as a dental assistant until she married Leo A. Greene (1908-1954) in 1930. The couple settled in Flushing, New York, and were active in the Jewish community there.

This brooch was initially owned by Jane Erin Emmet McEvers (1802-90), the daughter of Irish patriot and immigrant Thomas Addis Emmet (1764-1827), who was living in the United States by 1804. Jane E. Emmet probably immigrated to the United States with her father in 1804, and in 1825 married Bache McEvers (1798-1851), a New York City merchant and president of the New York Insurance Co. Although there is no surviving family documentation related to the purchase or receipt of the brooch, the engraved inscription suggests that it was acquired and worn by Jane McEvers following the death of her husband in Paris in 1851. In keeping with nineteenth-century mourning ritual, it is probable that the encased hair belonged to Bache McEvers. Jane McEvers' father, Thomas Addis Emmet became a prominent New Yorker soon after his arrival in the United States. According to an 1827 obituary, Emmet was originally trained as a physician but became a lawyer in Ireland prior to involvement in a 1798 Irish uprising. Upon arrival in New York, Emmet became an influential lawyer within the state, served as a state Attorney General in 1812, and was associated with figures such as DeWitt Clinton and Cadwalader Colden.