Antique Floral Jewellery
- Beth Dawson
- May 19
- 3 min read
Updated: May 21
From turquoise-studded forget-me-nots to beautifully enamelled pansies, floral motifs have long been a central theme in jewellery design. Romantic, symbolic, and endlessly varied, antique floral jewellery captures the language of flowers in precious metal and stone. These botanical treasures tell stories of both jewellery fashions and sentimental connections.
The use of floral motifs in jewellery spans millennia, reflecting evolving cultural meanings and aesthetic preferences. In ancient Egypt, for instance, the lotus flower symbolised rebirth and regeneration, frequently appearing in jewellery as an emblem of the afterlife. In ancient Greece and Rome, flowers were deeply intertwined with mythology and the divine: roses were linked to Aphrodite and Venus as symbols of love, while lilies were associated with Hera and Juno, representing purity and divine femininity. Across these cultures, each bloom carried layered significance, with daisies evoking innocence and youth, and poppies signifying remembrance.
This rich symbolic language continued to develop through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, when floral imagery in jewellery became a visual expression of Christian virtues such as purity, humility, and love. Roses and lilies, in particular, were used to convey devotion and spiritual meaning. By the 18th century, floral design took on a more decorative and playful character with the popularity of the giardinetti ring, meaning 'little garden' in Italian. These charming pieces featured sprays of colourful gemstones arranged like miniature bouquets, combining rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and diamonds to imitate flowers in full bloom.
Floral motifs were popular in mourning jewellery from the Georgian period. Forget-me-nots were used to symbolise memory, lilies-of-the-valley symbolised purity and reuniting, and yews symbolised eternal life. Flowers featured alongside traditional memento mori imagery such as skulls, coffins, and urns, underscoring the coexistence of grief, faith, and remembrance in the visual language of mourning.
Such pieces typically featured black enamel backdrops, making them instantly recognisable as tokens of loss. Rose-cut diamonds or seed pearls were commonly used and many items incorporated the hair of the deceased, woven into intricate patterns or placed beneath crystal, alongside engraved initials, dates, or personal inscriptions.
This symbolic use of flowers continued into the Victorian era, when floriography, or the 'language of flowers', became a widespread cultural fascination and a central theme in jewellery design. Building on the traditions of Georgian mourning jewellery, Victorian pieces expanded the floral vocabulary to celebrate love, friendship and sentiment. Roses became a symbol of romantic love and passion, while orange blossoms were associated with marriage and fertility, often worn by brides or given as wedding gifts. Violets expressed modesty and faithfulness, while forget-me-nots, already popular in mourning contexts, were also used to signify enduring affection in romantic relationships.
The Art Nouveau movement embraced a more expressive and artistic approach. Inspired by nature in its most stylised forms, jewellers used enamel, opals, and glass to create sweeping, asymmetrical floral designs featuring irises, orchids, and poppies. These pieces blurred the line between fine art and jewellery, focusing less on the intrinsic value of gold and gemstones and more on the beauty of the design.
The fuchsia was popular during this period. Often associated with elegance, confiding love, and amiability, the fuchsia was an ideal subject for a movement that prized both natural beauty and emotional depth, and its distinctive shape of drooping blossoms with flared petals and delicate stamens lent itself perfectly to the era’s flowing, organic lines.
