{"product_id":"mid-18th-century-banff-luckenbooth-brooch","title":"Mid 18th Century Banff Luckenbooth Brooch","description":"\u003cp class=\"has-text-color wp-block-paragraph\"\u003eThis ancient-looking crowned heart is a traditional Scottish jewel \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003ethat has similarities to Norwegian jewelry of the same period: it shows how closely their history and geography are joined. \u003c\/span\u003eThe V \u0026amp; A Museum in London has a Scottish \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/20120709133215\/http:\/images.vam.ac.uk\/item\/O113816\/brooch\/#selection-841.0-841.122\"\u003eLuckenbooth\u003c\/a\u003e brooch in their collection. Their description says: \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Heart brooches are one of the commonest surviving types of Scottish traditional brooch. They are sometimes called \u003cem\u003eluckenbooth brooches,\u003c\/em\u003e after the stalls round St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, where they were sold in the 19th century. They are also known as witches’ brooches. Small heart brooches were often fastened in children’s clothing for ‘averting the evil eye and keeping away witches’. Mothers also wore them to prevent the witches from stealing their milk. They were frequently given as love tokens. Women wore them at the neck of their shift to close the front opening.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis is an early example, and fastens like an ancient roman toga pin \/ annular brooch. On the back is stamped with the mark of \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eAlexander Shirras, who worked in the Scottish town of Banff from 1755 - 1761. He was considered a \u003cem\u003ehammerman:\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eThe Incorporation of Hammermen was one of the six Incorporated Trades of Banff (the other five were: Wrights, Coopers, Shoemakers, Tailors, and Weavers).  \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMATERIALS: silver\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAGE: c. 1750\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCONDITION: Very good - AS (Alexander Shirras) maker's mark\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSIZE: 2 1\/4\" x 1 1\/4\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Antiques","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52316020375834,"sku":"J493","price":2500.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0156\/5502\/files\/J493-1.jpg?v=1780705837","url":"https:\/\/checkout.ericaweiner.com\/products\/mid-18th-century-banff-luckenbooth-brooch","provider":"Erica Weiner LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}