On the fifth day of Christmas the 1862 Committee gave to me… five Gold Rings
T and J Bragg, Gold Bracelet, 1862, Victoria and Albert Museum, 7992-1863 © V&A, 2013
While lots of the objects which were displayed at the 1862 International Exhibition were huge in scale, this was not universally the case. Others were delicate – displayed to demonstrate the intricacies their producers could create and the fine materials they used. This gold bracelet was probably shown by the Birmingham based jewelers T and J Braggs at the 1862 International Exhibition and was then purchased by the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum). By the 1850s, bracelets had become an indispensable component of any fashionable woman’s wardrobe. Bracelets like this were never worn on their own; rather, women would wear four, FIVE, six or seven of them up each arm!
© Helen Cresswell and Ruth Mason, 2013