We didn’t celebrate Easter in our house when I was growing up. This didn’t sting nearly as badly as the absence of Christmas, namely because the ephemera surrounding Easter—bunnies, tulips, etc.—was far more secular than the things associated with December 25, though I did whine and beg until was allowed to wear a Santa brooch whose nose lit up when you pulled on a little bell. (How I wish I still had this item, more precious to me when I was in the third grade than the rarest Tiffany jewel.)
With Easter arriving this year on the last day of March, it seems like a good time to look at all those cheerful pieces of jewelry that celebrate the animal kingdom and the arrival of spring—bunny rabbits of course, but also birds, butterflies, lady bugs, and the plague of your garden—snakes.
For centuries those creepy reptiles have made their mark in the fashion world. Their symbolic power has a dark and thrilling history, beginning with their debut in the Garden of Eden, then turning up in Medusa’s coiffure, and even being found guilty for the murder of Cleopatra. But you needn’t worry about all this! Think instead of the serpent’s sunnier side—as rings, bracelets, and necklaces. The Victorians loved to adorn themselves with these slitherers: Queen Victoria sported a bracelet featuring three intertwined serpents to her first royal council in 1837, and two years later, Prince Albert gave her perhaps her most prized possession—a coiled snake engagement ring set with her emerald birthstone.
Victoria was born in 1819—had she lived a few hundred years later, might she have craved a Bulgari Serpenti watch to coil up her pasty white arm? Or perhaps at that point she would have tired of snakes and elected to expand her jewelry menagerie—adding perhaps some bird-themed pieces, which have their own fabulous back story.
Eagles and sparrows, hummingbirds and doves—even pigeons!—have decorated jewelry for thousands of years. Allow us to share one of our favorite bird jewelry stories: In occupied France during World War II, Cartier designer Jeanne Toussaint created a caged bird brooch in the colors of the French flag. When the Gestapo saw this symbol of resistance in Cartier’s window, they hauled Toussaint in for questioning. (She told them it was an old Cartier design. This was a lie.) After the war, Cartier produced a brooch of that same bird, now singing, his cage flung wide open. They named it L’Oiseau libéré.
Such is the power of jewelry—not just to charm but on occasion to send a secret message of freedom and joy. Sometimes just adorning yourself with a bejeweled creature, gazing down into its little face as you go about your daily chores, is enough to lift your spirits in these fraught times. After all, no matter what may happen in the next several months, spring is here.
Below, a compilation of our favorite creatures.