Suffragette Jewelry: Fact Versus Myth

Genuine Suffragette jewelry was created for the women’s movement first in England and later in the United States. It is one of the true Holy Grails of antique jewelry collectors. The problem is that there was plenty of jewelry made at the beginning of the 20^th century that had nothing to do with the women’s movement of the time. Even worse, this jewelry is being passed off as Suffragette jewelry by unknowing or unscrupulous dealers who are asking exorbitant prices based on its misidentified provenance.

It is widely believed that Suffragette jewelry was characterized by the clandestine use of green, white, and violet gems to stand for a secretive feminist message. The first letter of each of these colors forms the acronym, “GWV”, which purportedly stood for “Give Women the Vote”. To understand how this acronym could have come about, and how pieces of jewelry of that time period could be mistaken for Suffragette jewelry, one must be familiar with the politics and popular trends of the time.

The Edwardian Period (1901-1910) coincided with the birth of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in England. This organization was founded by Emmeline Pankhurst in 1903 and it became the most prominent spearhead of the women’s movement in England.

The Edwardian period celebrated the reign of King Edward VII and his Danish born Queen, Alexandra. Her favorite color was mauve, his “leek-green” ¹. Therefore, Edwardian jewelry incorporated ample peridots, emeralds, and demantoid garnets (green), amethysts (purple), and diamonds (white). These gems were a lovely compliment to the use of platinum open work, “lacey” settings that defined the jewelry of the period.

The original colors of the WSPU movement in England were thought up by Mrs. Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, a prominent and devout leader of the feminist movement. Surely, she took inspiration from King Edward and Queen Alexandra’s favorite colors. Yet, her goal was to make a public declaration of colors for the women’s movement, by which all members could proudly and publicly be identified with, not to create a clandestine code for her sisters in suffrage.

Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence and her husband published the suffragist newspaper, Votes For Women. In the May 1908 issue of Votes For Women, she reportedly explained the symbolism behind the purple, white, and green colors of the (WSPU) movement. Purple stood for royal dignity as it has throughout the centuries. White stood for purity. Green stood for hope and as a symbol of rebirth each spring: ‘Hope Eternal’ ².

These colors were not originally intended then, to form a secret acronym to unite the sisterhood of suffragettes, rather they were intended to be used in a public declaration behind the women’s movement. It is quite possible that as the movement progressed, suffragettes embraced the popular Edwardian jewelry being made at the time and developed the secondary and quite catchy “Give Women the Vote” acronym for it to fit their cause.

I believe that suffragettes of the period, both in England and the United States, could have simply adopted many Edwardian jewelry pieces for their cause, by cleverly calling the color purple “violet” and coming up with the “Give Women the Vote” (Green, White, Violet) slogan. However, this does not mean that pieces of Edwardian jewelry are synonymous with Suffragette jewelry or vice versa.

So beware when purchasing a piece of “Suffragette jewelry”. The claim might simply be wishful thinking! This is not to say that actual suffragette jewelry was not made or documented – it was. Numerous jewelry items were created to commemorate different events of the women’s movement. There were official badges, medals, ribbons, “sashes and motoring scarves” ³ commissioned by the WSPU. There were official brass belt buckles, hatpins and brooches.

Sylvia Pankhurst, one of the daughters of Emmeline Pankhurst (founder of the WSPU), created the famous “Holloway Prison Brooch”. It was given to members sent to prison for their protests. Holloway Prison in London was a horrible place and much suffering and sacrifice occurred there. The Holloway Prison Brooch acknowledged the members’ pain and commitment to the Women’s Movement.

In 1908, Sylvia Pankhurst also designed an enamel pendant in the colors of the movement with a trumpet-blowing angel on the front. This pendant is pictured on the cover of Elizabeth Crawford’s book, The Women’s Suffrage Movement, A Reference Guide 1866-1928. Her book has a very detailed account of all of the WSPU’s known jewelry.

In summary, not all of what is being termed as Suffragette jewelry today was truly part of the women’s movement. However, given the period, it is quite likely that many Edwardian pieces of jewelry were adopted as “Suffragette” pieces.

Certainly, the symbolic acronym, “Give Women Votes” could have easily been applied to much of the trendy, multi-colored jewelry of the day which had nothing to do with suffrage, but rather reverence for King Edward and Queen Alexandra. Documented Suffragette jewelry does exist, but one must do one’s homework to become familiar with it.

Sources:

1. Tolkien Tracy and Wilkinson, Henrietta, A Collector’s Guide to Costume Jewelry, Key Styles and How to Recognize Them, Ontario, Firefly Books Ltd., 1997.

2. Florey, Kenneth, Suffrage Colors and Alleged Suffrage Jewelry, Maine Antique Digest, December 2003.

3. Rowbotham, Sheila, A Century of Women, The History of Women in Britain and the United States, London, Viking, Published by the Penguin Group, 1997.

4. Crawford, Elizabeth, The Women’s Suffrage Movement, A Reference Guide 1866-1928, London, University College (UCL) Press, 1999.