His formula was simple: the jewels were all set with hummingbird heads constructed as described above, with pointed gold beaks, truncated for practical reasons, and tiny gemstones for the eyes. In September 1865 an account of Emanuel’s shop in The Queen describes a demi-parure of hummingbird brooch and earrings. The whole may be finished off by gems or other desired ornamentation.'Īlthough the patent does not say so Emanuel was probably using whole skins with the feathers still attached as that was the form in which hummingbird feathers were imported. For this purpose I form a setting frame, back, or mounting in gold, silver or other metallic substance or rigid material, by casting, cutting or otherwise, and in any desired shape to this I affix feathers or plumage of birds, preferring those which are celebrated for their varied effects of colour and light I attach them by means of shell lac, or other adhesive substance. 'The object of my Invention is a new manufacture of or improvement in ornaments for personal wear, according to which I apply to an useful manufacturing purpose a production not hitherto so employed. Jewellery using hummingbird feathers was first made in England by Harry Emanuel, a prominent figure in London’s West End, who took out a patent for his method of using the feathers in July 1865: After his death some 5,000 specimens were bought by the British Museum of Natural History. These displays, together with his magnificent publication, stimulated great interest in the species. Queen Victoria, who inspected the collection on 10 June 1851, was hugely impressed. The octagonal cases on ebony and gilt stands were specially designed to revolve so that the light caught the metallic irridescence of the feathers. More than 75,000 visitors paid the sixpence entrance fee to see the display of brilliantly coloured birds. At the same time Gould’s collection of 1,500 stuffed specimens was shown in a temporary pavilion at the Zoological Gardens. Examples of these illustrations were shown in the Fine Art Court at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. It was Gould who put hummingbirds firmly in the public domain with his great work 'The Family of Humming Birds', which appeared in five volumes between 18 and contained 360 lithographed and hand-coloured plates. Waterton’s collection was porbably known to John Gould, the celebrated illustrator, publisher and Victorian ‘bird man’. By 1821, Waterton had perfected methods of taxidermy which preserved his finds in a far more lifelike condition than had previously been possible. This was probably Charles Waterton, the eccentric landowner, naturalist and collector of exotic birds, who explored the tropical rainforests of South America and turned his Yorkshire estate into a bird sanctuary it opened to the public in the 1830s. The writer notes that these had been given her by ‘Mr Warburton, the great traveller’. The thrill of seeing them worn whole was recorded by the young Mary Elizabeth Lucy in 1821: ‘At the Mayor’s reception with everyone in full Court dress with plumes of ostrich feathers, the Countess of Derby appeared with a Bird of Paradise and Diamonds on her head and lovely Humming Birds on the body and sleeves of her dress.’ The Countess of Derby was the actress Miss Farren, and the implication is that she was flouting convention by substituting exotic novelties for the traditional ostrich plumes. Small wonder they aroused great excitement when stuffed specimens first reached Europe in the 1820s. ![]() Known for their ability to hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings – up to 80 times a second – thus creating the hum that gave the birds their name, they can fly backwards and vertically, and the species includes the world’s smallest bird at a mere two inches. 183-4:īy far the most popular bird for jewellery was the hummingbird with its colourful iridescent plumage. Rudoe, 'Jewellery in the Age of Queen Victoria: A Mirror to the World', London, British Museum, 2010, p.226-229 and figs. The green heads are probably the male short-tailed emerald hummingbird (Chlorostilbon poortmani) in which the whole head, breast and underside are a solid iridescent emerald green. Curator's comments The species used are the ruby-topaz hummingbird (Chrysolampis mosquitus) in which the male has a ruby-red crown, while the throat and breast are iridescent gold.
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