I’m like a ferret. Dangle a shiny thing in front of me and you have my attention. It could be a button or it could be a diamond. It doesn’t really matter. I have numerous childhood memories of rifling through sewing boxes, old jewelry boxes in attics, or long-forgotten purses under beds. All in search of something that might adorn. Strung on a string or wrapped around a wrist. Anything might be possible. I spent a good deal of time in the care of other people as a kid and letting me search for treasure (read: junk) was the way to engage me. Looking back, engaging me might not have otherwise been the easiest thing to accomplish.
In my personal psychology, the drive for things of adornment might have been about a lot of things. A creative outlet or even a way to bond with women who were not my mother but nonetheless my temporary caregivers. But, I think we all know the desire to create and wear jewelry is not unique to me or our time.
A brief search of Ebay easily bring up items such as these:
While I cannot verify the authenticity of any of these items, I have no reason to doubt it. Of course, there are places all over the world that buy and sell antiquities and, certainly, sometimes those items are jewelry. For me, setting aside the flat-out weirdness of being able to buy, from Ebay, the personal item of someone who died centuries ago, it is interesting to connect with the idea of adornment as simply a human thing that refuses to be defined by time or place. It is just something we do and, seemingly, something we have always done.
For more on this topic, check this out:
Bread and Cake 