How strict was the order of court mourning in reality?

In the English middle classes, very strict - manuals such as Cassell's Household Guide prescribed material and colour for every phase of mourning. In the German middle classes it was freer, and different again in the Catholic south. In rural regions the codification hardly mattered at all; mourning dress followed regional custom.

Which phases did court mourning distinguish?

Three main phases, each with clearly defined jewellery. Deep mourning (first year): matte black, no lustre - jet, vulcanite, black enamel, Berlin iron. Second mourning (second year): glossy black, small white accents permitted - onyx, black pearls. Half mourning (the transition back): grey, lilac, matte silver, amethyst, moonstone.

Why is Berlin iron so historically charged?

It arose in the context of the Wars of Liberation in 1813: Prussian women exchanged their gold jewellery for iron jewellery in order to finance rearmament. The iron piece bore the inscription Gold gab ich für Eisen ("I gave gold for iron"). Berlin iron is therefore widow's jewellery and political avowal at once - a combination that scarcely occurs otherwise.

Did men wear widow's jewellery too?

Yes, but far more sparingly. Widowers wore black cufflinks, black cravat pins and occasionally a mourning ring with their wife's date of death. The strict phase colours applied only to widows - men usually returned to their normal wardrobe after six months.

Does widow's jewellery still exist as a practice today?

Not in the historical sense. What remains is the individual decision to have a piece made after the loss of a partner - today usually as personalised memorial jewellery with a fingerprint, an engraving or an ash component, and no longer according to rules of phase.

Widow's Jewellery

Widow's jewellery is the graduated mourning jewellery worn by widows in the 19th century according to a strictly codified plan of court mourning - from deep matte black to half-mourning lilac, each phase with its own materials and its own formal language.

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