1700s House: Gold Brooch with Blue Stone

[Erik in NJ]

1700's House: Gold Brooch with Blue Stone

When I brought this home my 5-year old daughter looked at this and said "Wow!" Same thing I said when I unearthed this beauty. I countinued gridding the side yard for a couple hours today which had produced the Tree Stump Ink Well and dateless Draped Bust Large Cent last weekend. I got a junk signal at about 5" not far from the road and decided to dig--not expecting much, this popped out of the dirt! It's gorgeous! It's gold plated, not solid, but very intricate and quite beautiful with the blue center stone. I'm not exactly sure of it's age of how it might have been worn. You can clearly see the four mounting loops. Any additional information on this item would be greatly appreciated. This is by far one of the most beautiful pieces of jewelry I have dug and based on similar finds near by at similar depths it must date to at least the mid-1800s if not older. There are no markings on it and it's approximately 1.5" in diameter.

 

[fishstick]

WTG ERIK!! Shes a beaut for sure and makes you wonder if is was a braclet by the mounts? It goes to show that even if our machine tells us it junk, DIG it anyway.. That yard is lettin go of sum crazy lookin things for sure.. Way to work it bud! CONGRATS.. HH

 

[ringtone]

Nice!

 

[SusanMN]

Just beautiful. Looks to be in really good shape for gold plate that has been buried for a long time. Are,you sure it's plate?

 

[g-olden years]

Gorgeous and in such good condition! I'm no expert on 1800's fashion, but it could possibly have been attached to the center of a woman's cloth sash for her dress or skirt, and if so, this beautiful piece would've been at front center; or possibly somehow worn at the neck of a dress. The stone may be moonstone or common opal. A great find in any case! I would've fallen over backwards on pulling that out of the ground! HH Andi

 

[granthansen]

Absolutely gorgeous! What a find!

 

[thrillathahunt]

A centerpiece for sure! I do not think that is plated. Awesome find!

 

[JT1080]

Beautiful piece!

 

[Erik in NJ]

WTG ERIK!! Shes a beaut for sure and makes you wonder if is was a braclet by the mounts? It goes to show that even if our machine tells us it junk, DIG it anyway.. That yard is lettin go of sum crazy lookin things for sure.. Way to work it bud! CONGRATS.. HH

Thanks brother for all the kind words! At these older sites I tend to dig everything non-ferrous that gives a repeatable signal (there are loads of old square nails and iron relics there too--I have dug three heavy iron rings that I have not posted yet...for some reason they came up as non-ferrous signals). I dug another "junk" signal this summer at an old homestead that turned out to be a modern diamond engagement ring. That was the last thing I expected to find there. This piece was also quite a surprise, but as you say this house has been giving up an amazing array of finds.

Thanks again, Erik

 

[Erik in NJ]

Just beautiful. Looks to be in really good shape for gold plate that has been buried for a long time. Are,you sure it's plate?

Hi Susan, When I saw it in the field, especially the way the back looked I was thinking it was solid gold. After cleaning I can see the base metal showing through in a number of places. I have no idea on the age of this item--was hoping someone here might be able to establish a date range. You're right in that the gold plate is in very good shape and our soil is rough on items like this. Maybe it was very heavily plated?

 

[Erik in NJ]

Gorgeous and in such good condition! I'm no expert on 1800's fashion, but it could possibly have been attached to the center of a woman's cloth sash for her dress or skirt, and if so, this beautiful piece would've been at front center; or possibly somehow worn at the neck of a dress. The stone may be moonstone or common opal. A great find in any case! I would've fallen over backwards on pulling that out of the ground! HH Andi

Hi Andi! Thanks for your post. I also did fall over as I certainly wasn't expecting such a beautiful piece. Would the four loops have been used to sew it to something? I have never really seen anything like it. Any idea what it would be called so I can do some more research? The stone has sustained a bit of damage from being in the ground (the white areas that you see)...it was originally a solid "robin's egg blue" held in place by the four prongs.

Thanks for your kind words!

 

[Erik in NJ]

Absolutely gorgeous! What a find!

Thanks Grant! Will give you a shout a little later to touch base. Best, Erik

 

[Erik in NJ]

A centerpiece for sure! I do not think that is plated. Awesome find!

Thanks! Any idea how it would have been worn or what it is called? It will certainly be a centerpiece of my 2012 finds! When I first saw it in the field I assumed it was solid gold, but I can see some base metal coming through in places. If it was worn on a dress, perhaps solid gold might have been too heavy. I also wondered if it could have been a very fancy rosette or decoration for a horse.

 

[hamiddetecting]

Very nice!!

 

[Broken knee]

Nice find, is the stone fractured on top? Cause it does look like opal but that could be from posible fractures? HH
Broken Knee

 

[Erik in NJ]

Nice find, is the stone fractured on top? Cause it does look like opal but that could be from posible fractures? HH
Broken Knee

Hi, The stone appears to have sustained some damage while in the ground. The white areas are parts of it that appear to be flaking. It's not an opal stone. It is a solid robin's egg blue color.

 

[Broken knee]

HH
BK

 

[Michiganne]

Wow, a fancy, unique piece for sure. Congrats!

HH

 

[kam50]

Maybe She wore it back in the Day..They don't make women like that anymore..lol

 

[CRUSADER]

I think this was part of many identical ones linked in a chain, maybe around the waist or lower neck. date maybe circa 1900