83 Cross and brooch in carved ivory. Left: Pendant, cross of thorns with entwined holly; right: Oak- leaf spray with empty acorn cup. English, about 1850- 70. H. of cross 6.5 cm. Bedford, Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Hull Grundy Gift The cross incorporates the thorn branch and holly, two symbols of the Passion of Jesus Christ. The oak means strength or enduring love; the empty acorn cup, a commonly used motif in mourning jewellery, signifies the inevitable end of love. Mrs Forbes- Gibbon wears ivory ornaments with her jet jewellery ( Fig. 85). sophisticated development of the trade in the 1870s. 27In a portrait photograph taken in India in 1878 Mrs Angelina Forbes- Gibbon is wearing masses of jet jewellery in long strings and pendants ( Fig. 85). A similar suite of very fine jet ornaments, worn in Edinburgh in the second half of the nineteenth century by Mrs Craig, mother of the historian Thomas Craig Brown, is preserved in a Scottish museum ( Fig. 82). There were alternatives to jet. A pendant pearl cross retailed by Packer in about 1855 proclaims its suitability for mourning, as it is white ( i. e. colourless), made of pearls ( for ' tears') and in the form of a cross with a forget- me- not at the junction of the arms of the cross, sig-nifying love ( Fig. 84). In the instructions on royal mourning issued by theLondon Gazette white ornaments and pearls are allowable at ' second mourning' ( i. e. after six or eight weeks). Ivory when used for mourning jewellery employs conventional motifs like an oak- spray with one empty acorn cup, which stands for the inevitable end of love in death, and holly- or ivy- entwined crosses ( Fig. 83). Holly stands for the Crown of Thorns with red berries as drops of blood. 84 Pearl cross pendant. English, retailed by Charles Packer, about 1870. H. 5.5 cm. Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum, Hull Grundy Gift The pearls are threaded on a cruciform mother- of- pearl frame. The central flower is probably the commonly used forget- me- not for remembrance. 82 Whitby jet mourning jewellery worn by Mrs Craig of Edinburgh. English, second half of the 19th century. Edinburgh, National Museums of Scotland The full set consists of the massive chain with anchor, three pairs of bracelets, a delicate drop necklace with a pendant cross, a brooch, a comb and a bow- tied necklace of close- strung faceted drops. 126
127 85 Mrs Angelina Forbes- Gibbon. Photograph by Bourne & Shepherd, India, 1870s. Manchester, Platt Hall Mrs Forbes- Gibbon wears a black satin dress, so newly unpacked that it still shows the folds. Her hair is dressed with black jewellery and she has a profusion of carved Whitby jet chains and pendants and other ornaments in ivory. The style of her ornaments closely follows those owned by Mrs Craig of Edinburgh ( Fig. 82).