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Stomacher (jewellery)
A stomacher - sometimes called a devant de corsage - is a piece of jewellery worn on the centre panel of the bodice of a dress, which is itself also called a stomacher. In the 18th and 19th century, stomachers became large, eye-catching pieces of jewellery to be worn with formal court robes or ball gowns. Like the tiara, it was a jewel pre-eminently suited to expressing social status. Description A stomacher is worn on the centre panel of the bodice of a dress, which itself is also called stomacher. A stomacher can consist of one or more elements. If it consists of one element, it can be best described as a large and elaborate brooch to be worn at the top of the bodice, in the centre of the neckline. A stomacher that consists of more than one element often has the overall shape of an inverted triangle: the element to be worn at the neckline is widest, with the lower elements tapering downwards towards the waist and covering the entire centre panel of the bodice. The elements c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jewellery
Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western perspective, the term is restricted to durable ornaments, excluding flowers for example. For many centuries metal such as gold often combined with gemstones, has been the normal material for jewellery, but other materials such as glass, shells and other plant materials may be used. Jewellery is one of the oldest types of archaeological artefact – with 100,000-year-old beads made from ''Nassarius'' shells thought to be the oldest known jewellery.Study reveals 'oldest jewellery' , '' |
Gemstone
A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, and obsidian) and occasionally organic materials that are not minerals (such as amber, jet, and pearl) are also used for jewelry and are therefore often considered to be gemstones as well. Most gemstones are hard, but some soft minerals are used in jewelry because of their luster or other physical properties that have aesthetic value. Rarity and notoriety are other characteristics that lend value to gemstones. Apart from jewelry, from earliest antiquity engraved gems and hardstone carvings, such as cups, were major luxury art forms. A gem expert is a gemologist, a gem maker is called a lapidarist or gemcutter; a diamond cutter is called a diamantaire. Characteristics and classification The traditional classification in the West, wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Of Teck
Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes; 26 May 186724 March 1953) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 6 May 1910 until 20 January 1936 as the wife of King-Emperor George V. Born and raised in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom, Mary was the daughter of Francis, Duke of Teck, a German nobleman, and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, a granddaughter of King George III and a minor member of the British royal family. She was informally known as "May", after the month of her birth. At the age of 24, she was betrothed to her second cousin once removed Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, the eldest son of the Edward VII, Prince of Wales and second in line to the throne. Six weeks after the announcement of the engagement, he died unexpectedly during an 1889–1890 pandemic, influenza pandemic. The following year, she became ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was a founder and first president of the Royal Academy of Arts, and was knighted by George III in 1769. Early life Reynolds was born in Plympton, Devon, on 16 July 1723 the third son of the Rev. Samuel Reynolds, master of the Plympton Free Grammar School in the town. His father had been a fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, but did not send any of his sons to the university. One of his sisters was Mary Palmer (1716–1794), seven years his senior, author of ''Devonshire Dialogue'', whose fondness for drawing is said to have had much influence on him when a boy. In 1740 she provided £60, half of the premium paid to Thomas Hudson the portrait-painter, for Joshua's pupilage, and nine years later a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amethyst
Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz. The name comes from the Koine Greek αμέθυστος ''amethystos'' from α- ''a-'', "not" and μεθύσκω (Ancient Greek) / μεθώ (Modern Greek), "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness. Ancient Greeks wore amethyst and carved drinking vessels from it in the belief that it would prevent intoxication. Amethyst, a semiprecious stone, is often used in jewelry and is the traditional birthstone for February. Structure Amethyst is a purple variety of quartz (SiO2) and owes its violet color to irradiation, impurities of iron and in some cases other transition metals, and the presence of other trace elements, which result in complex crystal lattice substitutions.Michael O'Donoghue (2006), ''Gems'', Butterworth-Heinemann, 6th ed. The hardness of the mineral is the same as quartz, thus making it suitable for use in jewelry. Hue and tone Amethyst occurs in primary hues from a li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chrysoberyl
The mineral or gemstone chrysoberyl is an aluminate of beryllium with the formula Be Al2 O4. The name chrysoberyl is derived from the Greek words χρυσός ''chrysos'' and βήρυλλος ''beryllos'', meaning "a gold-white spar". Despite the similarity of their names, chrysoberyl and beryl are two completely different gemstones, although they both contain beryllium. Chrysoberyl is the third-hardest frequently encountered natural gemstone and lies at 8.5 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, between corundum (9) and topaz (8). An interesting feature of its crystals are the cyclic twins called ''trillings''. These twinned crystals have a hexagonal appearance, but are the result of a triplet of twins with each "twin" oriented at 120° to its neighbors and taking up 120° of the cyclic trilling. If only two of the three possible twin orientations are present, a "V"-shaped twin results. Ordinary chrysoberyl is yellowish-green and transparent to translucent. When the mineral e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evening Gown
An evening gown, evening dress or gown is a long dress usually worn at formal occasions. The drop ranges from ballerina (mid-calf to just above the ankles), tea (above the ankles), to full-length. Such gowns are typically worn with evening gloves. Evening gowns are usually made of luxurious fabrics such as chiffon, velvet, satin, organza, etc. Silk is a popular fibre for many evening gowns. Although the terms are used interchangeably, ball gowns and evening gowns differ in that a ball gown will always have a full skirt and a fitted bodice, while an evening gown can be any silhouette—sheath, mermaid, A-line, or trumpet shaped—and may have straps, halters or even sleeves. History Early modern period Evening wear for women, sometimes also known as court dress based on its creation at royal courts, has its origins in the 15th century with the rise of the Burgundian court and its fashionable and fashion-conscious ruler Philip the Good. Wool, in various weaves, was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parure
A parure () is a set of various items of matching jewelry, which rose to popularity in early 19th-century Europe. Terminology A parure typically consists of a combination of a matching necklace, earrings, brooch, bracelet and often a diadem or tiara. A variation is the ''demiparure'' which consists of as few as two matching pieces, such as earrings and a necklace or brooch. Design A parure is not a static piece of jewelry but rather, is modular and can be reconfigured to remain fashionable and suit different occasions. Members of court and higher social ranks vied for the best jewelers to create the most imaginative and elaborate collections that would increase their status. Some necklaces could be worn intact or temporarily disassembled into bracelets, pendants, hair ornaments or brooches with interchangeable components and locking systems. Cases for storing parures were also often highly decorative. History Artisans under Louis XIV were credited with some of the first parure in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Folk Costume
A folk costume (also regional costume, national costume, traditional garment, or traditional regalia) expresses an identity through costume, which is usually associated with a geographic area or a period of time in history. It can also indicate social, marital or religious status. If the costume is used to represent the culture or identity of a specific ethnic group, it is usually known as ethnic costume (also ethnic dress, ethnic wear, ethnic clothing, traditional ethnic wear or traditional ethnic garment). Such costumes often come in two forms: one for everyday occasions, the other for traditional festivals and formal wear. Following the rise of romantic nationalism, the pre-industrial peasantry of Europe came to serve as models for all that appeared genuine and desirable. Their dresses are crystallized into so-called "typical" forms, and enthusiasts adopted that attire as part of their symbolism. In areas where Western dress codes have become usual, traditional garments ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corset
A corset is a support garment commonly worn to hold and train the torso into a desired shape, traditionally a smaller waist or larger bottom, for aesthetic or medical purposes (either for the duration of wearing it or with a more lasting effect), or support the breasts. Both men and women are known to wear corsets, though this item was for many years an integral part of women's wardrobes. Since the late 20th century, the fashion industry has borrowed the term "corset" to refer to tops which, to varying degrees, mimic the look of traditional corsets without acting as them. While these modern corsets and corset tops often feature lacing or boning, and generally imitate a historical style of corsets, they have very little, if any, effect on the shape of the wearer's body. Genuine corsets are usually made by a corsetmaker and are frequently fitted to the individual wearer. Etymology The word ''corset'' is a diminutive of the Old French word ''cors'' (meaning "body", and itsel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pearl
A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate (mainly aragonite or a mixture of aragonite and calcite) in minute crystalline form, which has deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other shapes, known as baroque pearls, can occur. The finest quality of natural pearls have been highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty for many centuries. Because of this, ''pearl'' has become a metaphor for something rare, fine, admirable and valuable. The most valuable pearls occur spontaneously in the wild, but are extremely rare. These wild pearls are referred to as ''natural'' pearls. ''Cultured'' or ''farmed'' pearls from pearl oysters and freshwater mussels make up the majority of those currently sold. Imitation pearls are also widely s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinum is a member of the platinum group of elements and group 10 of the periodic table of elements. It has six naturally occurring isotopes. It is one of the rarer elements in Earth's crust, with an average abundance of approximately 5 μg/kg. It occurs in some nickel and copper ores along with some native deposits, mostly in South Africa, which accounts for ~80% of the world production. Because of its scarcity in Earth's crust, only a few hundred tonnes are produced annually, and given its important uses, it is highly valuable and is a major precious metal commodity. Platinum is one of the least reactive metals. It has remarkable resistance to corrosion, even at high temperatures, and is therefore considered a noble metal. Consequent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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