No. 8 Lover's Eye Watercolor Archival Print

An archival giclée print of an original watercolor painting of a Georgian Lover’s Eye brooch. The original brooch, English, ca. 1800–1810, is framed by a coiled serpent set with seed pearls and ruby eyes. The ouroboros motif symbolizes eternity and undying love, while the seed pearls symbolized purity, innocence, and sometimes tears. 8" × 8".

THE HISTORY: Lover's Eyes were a jewelry trend c.1785-1830 of brooches set with tiny watercolor portraits on ivory. Since they were cropped to eyes, they were in many ways more direct and intimate than traditional miniature portraits; but also because they were just eyes, they were often used as daring public testimonies of clandestine love affairs with mystery lovers.