The Jewelry of Mother Nature: Evolution and Revival

From the Dawn of Civilization,ancient cultureshave been usingjewelry to beautify and protectthemselves. Jewelry was usedto display social rank or ownership, as well as enhance looks to attract a mate. The earliest of jewelry was made of objects of Nature easily collected and gathered,such as bone, shell, and feathers. As children,all culturesinstinctively pick upeye-catching items, wind stems of flowers together, or put feathers into hair. Throughout the ages,jewelry has begee intricate works of art and self-expression. The use of Mother Nature's bounty has symbolized abundance, fertility, freedom, strength and beauty.

NATURAL JEWELRY: History and Early Beginnings
AncientCulture
Inancient culture, early jewelry would have merely been adornments. Objects were setinto hair,shards of bone were pierced through flesh. Once humans entered the tool age, natural objects could be shaped, cutandstrung. Primary uses would have been self-enhancement, status, or ownership.
Females would have put objects into the hair todistinguish themselves from other females, increasing the chance of attracting a mate. Males would hang tusks, claws, bones or arrowheads from their necks to symbolize their virilityand superior hunting skills. The larger the animal claw or tooth, the greater theirperceived strength and fierceness. Feathers and animal hairwere woven together to create animal-like headdresses. Dances similar to animal mating rituals were often performed toattractand impress available females.Small pretty trinkets such as colorful shells could be given by males to females tophysically show unavailabilityand ownership.

Primitive Culture
Early jewelrymaking techniques officially began in approximately 3000 BC. Trade routes were established between North Africa, Europe, and the Near and Middle East. Jewelry could be worn to identify an area, an occupation, or a social rank.
The Migration of Jewelry
The Sumerians in Mesopotamia, now modern Iraq, were regarded as the first jewelers. Some of their techniques are still in use in modern jewelry making. They were the first society to discover and use gold and silver for the making of jewelry. They also mined natural minerals, semi-precious gems such as lapis lazuli and cornelian to set into their jewelry.
The people of Egypt were impressed and influenced by Sumerian jewelry. The Egyptians, using skills learned by the Sumerians, developed their personal style of jewelry with an African flare. They incorporated their Gods and hieroglyphic script into their jewelry. They used precious metals withnatural semi-precious stones and pearls collected from the Nile River.
The Phoenicians had a huge trading area that spanned the Mediterranean into Spain.Theywere influencedby the Egyptians and created their own style of jewelry.
By 500 BC, Phoenician style jewelry reached Tuscany and Umbria. TheEtruscans elaborated on the Phoenician and Egyptian styles and techniques, creating a jewelry with phenomenal craftsmanship and expertise. This cultureis credited with perfectinggranulation, or applying tiny beads of metal to metal.
Classical Jewelry
Greek Jewelry
By 350 BC, the Middle and Near East jewelry designwas pretty uniform in appearance. Ancient Greek culture dominated the area. Gold was plentiful, and the art of filigree was used to make jewelry into intricate works of art. The jewelry created was made to look like natural objects - leaves, branches, sprays of flowers, etc. They incorporated their Gods, crescent moon shapes, leaf and key motifs. They used natural glass, gemstones and minerals in every color of the rainbow.
Roman Jewelry
As Christianity spread, the Greek Gods stepped aside for more Christian motifs. Roman style jewelry did carry on renditions of scrolling leaf and key patterns, adapted from previous Greek pieces, but they scrapped filigree work, and instead produced bold, smooth designs. Roman jewelry began to decline in appeal around the 4th century AD. At this time, pearls were discovered in the Red Sea, and elephant ivory was being imported from India and Africa.
By the 6th century AD, the people of Constantinople were fully mining Mother Earth's natural gemstones and metals. Older styles of jewelry began to be re-incorporated, especially those of Persia and India. Designs became much more intricate and geplex, and the use of precious metals and natural gemstones increased greatly.
Medieval Jewelry
During the Crusades, jewelry of the Byzantine Empire and medieval Europe began to overlap due to the great area of the War. Crusaders brought jewelry designs back to Europe from the far reaches of Africa and the Middle East. Medieval jewelry used Earth's precious stones, and inscriptions became very popular. Christian motifs and icons soared, and the religiouscrosscame to the forefront.
Medieval jewelry with Christian motifs continued through the European Renaissance fromthe 14th to the 17th century. However, the classic style of Greek and Roman jewelry began to reappear.

New World Jewelry
Spain was exploring and conquering in the New World in the 15th century, bringing incredible stashes of gold, silver and gemstones into Europe. The European populationembraced fashion and jewelry design, causing jewelry to be extremely desirable.Jewelry of precious metals and gemstones became status symbols and outer proclamation of social superiority. With resources being heavily mined,quality pieces began to be reserved for Royalty and the wealthy.Asthe desire for self-beautification of thegemon-class of people soared, jewelry of less-expensive substitutions and non-precious materials soon were produced. Though the term wasn't coined until the 1920's, non-precious "Costume Jewelry," was born.
Victorian Jewelry
The Victorian era was most noted for using Natural objects to create jewelry. Most jewelry was made from tortoiseshell, bone, ivory, coral, tiger's teeth and claws, nuts, wood, insects and hair. The Victorian era revived Egyptian design when the artifacts were revealed from the discoveriesof Ancient tombs.
Modern Costume Jewelry
Since the Victorian era, the World has seen many styles and influences of jewelry, with revivals of certain styles. The 1960's and 1970's particularlyfocused on Nature, causing jewelry made of nuts, wood, feathers and shells increasingly popular again. This era is also noted for bringing Mexican and Native American Indian jewelry, with their natural mined minerals and gems, to greater popularity.

Nature's Semi-Precious Objects
Many cultures have little access to precious material, and their jewelry consists of simple natural objects. Even cultures with access to precious gems and artisans, have opted to wear the bounty of Mother Nature as their way of self-expression. Manycultures have folklore of the healing or protecting powers of certainitems of nature. Many jewelry collectorshave chosen particular natural collections due tothese qualities, orsimply for their statement of Natural Beauty.

FAUNA
Animals with specific anatomical characteristics are used in jewelry.Quillsresemble long, tubular beads ofmultiple colors. Bear claws, some varieties now illegal, were once made into necklaces. Tiger and zebrahidewas made into earrings and brooches. Mink has been made into earrings, brooches, button covers, and especially sweater guards.

Panamanian Porcupine Quill EarringswithCarved Wood Swans