Unusual Artifacts: The Crichton Vinaigrette, 1885-1886

Unusual Artifacts: The Crichton Vinaigrette, 1885-1886

Vinaigrette
G.&M. Crichton
The Victoria & Albert Museum

A Vinaigrette was used to hold an aromatic substance. Usually, the vinaigrette was worn, suspended from a chain, cord or ribbon around the throat. Sometimes, it could take the form of a brooch or a hand-held ornament.

This example was made around 1886 in Scotland by the Edinburgh jewelery firm G&M Crichton who had earlier made quite a splash at the London Exhibition of 1872. While Crichton’s designs were praised overall at the exhibition, some critics felt that the Highland brooches were a bit too “extravagant” in detail.

When this brooch was made, Scotland and all things Scottish were quite fashionable due to the earlier poetry of Sir Walter Scott and the public admiration for the land shown by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Scottish pebble jewelry was quite in demand. While the majority of these Scottish agate pieces came back to England as souvenirs of Scotland, some examples were made in Birmingham to meet the high demand. Birmingham jewelers would mimic the style of the Scottish jewels, employing stones collected in Scotland.

This vinaigrette shows the variety of attractive stones native to Scotland. Citrines, amethysts, bloodstone, mottled jasper and banded agate are set into silver. The reverse is marked for G.&M. Crichton with hallmarks for 1885 to 1886.

Unusual Artifacts: The Crichton Vinaigrette, 1885-1886

Vinaigrette
G.&M. Crichton
The Victoria & Albert Museum

A Vinaigrette was used to hold an aromatic substance. Usually, the vinaigrette was worn, suspended from a chain, cord or ribbon around the throat. Sometimes, it could take the form of a brooch or a hand-held ornament.

This example was made around 1886 in Scotland by the Edinburgh jewelery firm G&M Crichton who had earlier made quite a splash at the London Exhibition of 1872. While Crichton’s designs were praised overall at the exhibition, some critics felt that the Highland brooches were a bit too “extravagant” in detail.

When this brooch was made, Scotland and all things Scottish were quite fashionable due to the earlier poetry of Sir Walter Scott and the public admiration for the land shown by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Scottish pebble jewelry was quite in demand. While the majority of these Scottish agate pieces came back to England as souvenirs of Scotland, some examples were made in Birmingham to meet the high demand. Birmingham jewelers would mimic the style of the Scottish jewels, employing stones collected in Scotland.

This vinaigrette shows the variety of attractive stones native to Scotland. Citrines, amethysts, bloodstone, mottled jasper and banded agate are set into silver. The reverse is marked for G.&M. Crichton with hallmarks for 1885 to 1886.

Gifts of Grandeur: The Crichton Vinaigrette, c. 1885

Vinaigrette
G. & M. Crichton
Scotland, c. 1885
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The Edinburgh jewelry firm of G. & M. Crichton, at the London Exhibition of 1872, was given a fair amount of praise for their work in general. However, their highland shoulder brooches and works which used wholly Scottish materials, were granted the greatest raves. By the 1880s, thanks in large part to the poems and novels of Sir Walter Scott and the loyalty of Queen Victoria and the late Prince Consort, Scotland was a popular tourist spot. Some of the most fashionable souvenirs to be taken home from Scotland were the examples of “pebble” jewelry which were produced by local workmasters.

Here’s an example of the sort of wares produced by G. & M. Crichton using local materials. This vinaigrette (a small vessel used to hold scent or smelling salts used to combat the pervasive foul city smells of the Nineteenth Century) is constructed of silver set with citrines, amethysts, bloodstone, mottled jasper and banded agate. Signed “G. & M. Crichton” it also is marked with Edinburgh hallmarks for 1885-1886.   The vinaigrette was praised by critics for its handsome design and the use of the large, faceted citrine in the cap of the vessel.