Geology to jewellery: sourcing and crafting Scottish metals and gems in the nineteenth century

Abstract

• From the late eighteenth century, jewellers in Scotland used precious metals and colourful stone to craft little luxuries that were bought, gifted and worn by men, women and children. This paper explores how jewellers and lapidaries responded and contributed to developing knowledge about geology and mineralogy through the things they made. A focus on the role of colour in the design and making of jewellery objects reveals how, through their work, these craftspeople fostered new ways of working, and of seeing and engaging with the landscape. The natural qualities of Scottish gold, the earthy tones of quartz found in the Cairngorm mountains and the colourful patterning of agates all played a role in shaping enduring perceptions of place Dr Sarah Laurenson is Principal Curator of Modern and Contemporary History and Head of the Modern and Contemporary History Section at National Museums Scotland. She is responsible for the Scottish collections from c.1750 to the present. Sarah's research interests span the period of Scottish history from the mid-eighteenth to the twenty-first century with an emphasis on Scottish cultures and identities, and on the ways in which shifting engagement with the physical landscape and natural environment has shaped – and continues to shape – the material world. Her new book explores how the use of jewellery materials extracted from Scotland’s natural landscapes – namely precious metals, agates and crystals, and freshwater pearls – throw light on the complex and shifting relationships between people and the natural landscape since the mid-eighteenth century.