Thursday, August 4, 2011

Highlights of the Victorian Era

Victorian Dragonfly Brooch
Oh where to begin!?! Being the longest era in jewelry history, the Victorian Era has been both delightful and dreadful to study. It sometimes feels as if I'm slogging and fighting to make it through to the other side. Our journey began with the post Victoriana, in which I highlighted the three subperiods within the era.

Metamorphosis
Following closely on the heels of this introduction, I wrote Parallel Lives to express and explain the emotional upheaval I was facing as I delved into this tragic story of codependency and self-pity. I remain determined throughout the exploration of her life to honor her, while at the same time not excusing her from missing her opportunity to shine.

George IV State Diadem
In an effort to lighten the mood, I alternated between posts about the queen and posts about the Crown Jewels of Britain. A list of these posts can be found here.

Victoria & Albert
I made more changes to my process after a long discussion with my mom, who sagely suggested that I should refocus on the jewelry, allowing it to inform the topic instead of attempting to chronicle Victoria's life in timeline fashion. Fighting against all my own bugaboos (you know, the ones that would compel me to try to relate things in proper order), I followed her advice and joyfully found my muse returning in full force. The fruit of this change found its way into such posts as Of Diadems and Devotion and Of Cameos and Causes.

My New Bedroom
And we now find ourselves moving through the last phase of my one-year blogging journey, which coincidentally finds us at the end of Queen Victoria's life. In this season, I've made a major life transition, having relocated from Washington to California in mid-March. I wrote many posts about moving and home decorating.

Victorian Lace Insect Pins
After a month of procrastinating, I finally decided that one post on Victoria's mourning lifestyle was plenty, and the flow returned to my writing after that, taking us to my final piece on true Victorian Era jewelry and the current state of affairs with my blog, as well.

Thank you for taking this journey with me down memory lane. Soon I will have the pleasure of introducing you to the princess of the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Until then, may all your journeys come full circle and may you find that your tiara is always within reach.

~Angela

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