Fleur de lis Pin

Smaller (dime size) pin. No markings.
I wonder if it was meant to wear in two different ways.
Any thoughts on dating?
Another item from the box of my ancestors jewelry.


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Seeing a definite theme here. Is your family of French origin, Fernwood?

need side angle shot of clasp

side

Surprisingly, not French.
Irish, Welch and Native American on that side of family.
I have 3 other fleur de lis jewelry pieces.

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Will try to get one shortly.

To begin, you have it upside down :grin:. The hook part is to hold a small lapel watch. These were in karat gold and gold filled popular from the Victorian period to the Art Deco period. They were made by both domestic and foreign manufacturers.

Nurses picked up on the practice in the 1900s. To have a watch pinned to your blouse made more sense than wearing a watch on the wrist when wristwatches came out.

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Yes, I noticed it was posted upside down.
Interesting history on this style of pin.
There were no nurses in my family, bit maybe someone else liked the style.

Yours looks like it pre-dates use by nurses. Probably worn with a lapel watch from mid to late 19th century.

Family from St Louis? lots and lots of fleur de lis used in old STL families.

image

Not St Louis. They mostly came from Iowa/Indiana to Wisconsin in the early to mid 1800’s.

Hmmm. Wondering if the use of the Fleur de Lis in the nursing community may have had something to do with Knights Hospitaler tradition.

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Here are some more photos of where the clasp is.
I can see the number 2 and something after it.




6

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That’s an interesting piece of history I was not aware of. Thanks @mmrogers .

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@StevesTrail Beautiful watch!!

I have a small collection of ladies pocket watches, and one is very similar this blue guilloche watch!
I will post them in this forum in a few minutes

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Beautiful piece!

Incidentally, the fleur de lis is also a symbol of the province of Québec, so it is just possible this may be of Canadian origin.

Either way, it’s a very elegant symbol, and your brooch is just lovely.

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The earliest example of its use dates to the 12th century in France but the actual origin is unknown or disputed.

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Found this article discussing the origins. Fascinating stuff! https://sldmfishers.org/documents/2018/4/Fleur%20de%20Lis.pdf

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Many other styles of pins were designed for ladies pocket watches, too.
I have done a bit of research, based on my small collection that I showed in the other thread.

Generally, the watch movements were of Swiss manufacture, and the cases were US made.
Here are a few examples.

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I love that you posted this link.about the Fleur de lis . It is an attractive design. I recognized it as being adopted by the BSA as a Scouting symbol used by my sons (1980s) and my husband ( 1960s). It continues today.
Along with it’s meaningful symbolism ,this beautiful watch is a great example of it’s decorative style.

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