The Dragonfly

This is my latest acquisition.  It is in the style, again, of the Art Nouveau movement, but it is new.  It is by one of the designers in the David Howell company and supports the American Craft Museum.  It is solid brass electroplated with silver and then enameled.  Apparently the dragonfly was a recurring motif on most of the Art Nouveau craft forms, from porcelain to accessories.  I got this at the Fred Jones Museum of Art in Norman.

This nice little pin gives a lovely burst of color to nearly anything, and it has various degrees of luminosity depending on how the light hits it.  I particularly like to wear it with clothes that are gray.  I have it here on a charcoal belted wool sweater.

The Amethyst Stickpin

This is another old pin, age uncertain but from someone's estate and in the Art Nouveau style. It has a very deeply colored round amethyst in the center, with four rhinestones along the body.  I'm not sure what metal is used.  It is very finely wrought with tiny beading along the edges and larger beads on the surface.  I got it at A Haggle of Vendors, that sublimely named store in Grand Junction (with my collector sister urging me on).

Because this pin is so clearly from another era, I like to put it on a forties-style hat.  (I am mad for 40s fashion, including shirtwaist house dresses with cap sleeves and platform shoes, and certainly wool coats and fedora and cloche hats.)  So I have it here on the crown of a taupe wool shaped hat.  It is placed on a sculpture of a woman's head, done years ago by another sister.  I use this head sculpture, which is next to my fireplace, to hold my hats.  I hope it's not too disrespectful.

The Amber Lobster

This amusing brooch is in the shape of a lobster, made of silver with big amber cabochons for the body segments and eyes.  It was given to me a few years ago by a student, who wished to remain anonymous.  It came with this handwritten note:  "Here we are trapped in the amber of the moment.  There is no why."  -- Kurt Vonnegut.

But the student didn't remember that I see handwriting throughout their academic careers and can't help but remember particular styles.  Plus, only certain students are going to wax philosophical.  So I successfully guessed her identity, and she eventually acknowledged it.  I can't help but think that the quote was a reference to those that I hang on my office door each semester.

Even though the brooch is fairly big, it doesn't overwhelm.  I have it here on one of my winter coats.

The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

This is a typical member of my collection:  a sterling silver bird, this one a scissor-tailed flycatcher, Oklahoma's state bird.  The impressive features of this pin are the wide and nicely articulated wingspan and the long, long tail feathers.   I got it at the gift shop at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.  Plenty of others shop there as well; for the first time, I saw another woman wearing a copy of a piece of jewelry I own.  I sucked it up.

This pin is fun and easy to wear because it's catchy but not too fussy or too heavy. I have it here on a very old (ain't sayin' how old) copen blue velvet jacket by Givenchy (who's probably dead by now).  Notice how the tail feathers reach past the edge of the lapel.