The Anne Hull Grundy Collection

Anne Hull Grundy (1927-1984) was an art historian and collector who compiled vast, stunning and unique collections of jewellery, then gave them to National and Regional museums all over Britain. Generous, eccentric and capricious, she hated diamonds, saying they were “just for call girls and rich dumb wives”, and loved “good craftsmen’s jewellery: seed pearls, tortoiseshell, coral, steel… beautiful junk…I’m very fond of good Georgian paste”.  (Paste is a very hard glass, used in the 19th Century to mainly imitate diamonds and other precious stones).  Glass has been used since the Middle-Ages as an interesting, versatile material for jewels in its own right.  Maidstone Museum’s gifts from Anne Hull Grundy came in between 1979 and 1983, totalling 144 pieces.  It is a wide-ranging reference collection of typical examples of Victorian and early 20th Century jewellery, comprising metals such as gilded brass and copper, lacquer, steel, Berlin iron, silver and plate.  Natural materials represented include horn, vulcanite, bog oak, ivory, tortoiseshell, jet, coral and mother-of-pearl, as well as semi-precious stones and mineral jewellery like garnet, greenstone, topaz, malachite, onyx, cairngorm and crystal.  ‘Man-made’ substances include glass, paste, ceramic and enamel.  Imagery on much of these novel pieces include birds and flowers. Dogs, ballerinas, human hands and musical instruments also feature.

1800s-1850s – Jewellery from the Anne Hull Grundy Collection

11a Hairpin, dragonfly, ‘French jet’, c.1800
Hair was worn in the ‘antique Roman style’, fastened up behind and ornamented with a tuft of feathers or spray of jewels (aigrette).  This dragonfly, of black glass discs, is designed to tremble like an aigrette and has a small steel spring.  The whole was fixed into the hair by a forked steel pin.

Given by Anne Hull Grundy of Hampshire, 1979-83

11b Masonic pin, pelican, silver/coloured pastes, c.1820
The main image is ‘the pelican in her piety’, where the mother pelican pecks her own breast so that her seven chicks on the nest can drink the drops of blood.  The pin is made of unmarked silver set with green, red and white pastes.  It is double-sided and the reverse shows the mother bird removing her breast feathers prior to feeding the chicks.

Given by Anne Hull Grundy of Hampshire, 1979-83

11c Tiara, vine leaves, enamel and glass, c.1825
The style of this tiara crosses over between the ‘classical’ and ‘gothic’ styles. It depicts green enamel leaves on a vine combined with blue glass beads.  It has a tortoiseshell comb fixed by a silver hinge to hold it onto the hair, and would have been worn towards the front of the head.

Given by Anne Hull Grundy of Hampshire, 1979-83

11d Brooch, floral arrangement, coral, 1837-60
Floral arrangements and the use of coral was popular from the 1830s-60s, making precise dating difficult. Each petal and leaf forming the brooch is individually carved and polished, and glued to wires, which have been soldered and mounted. Coral is secreted by marine polyps as protection and habitation, and can be a dark orange, pinkish orange or white.

Given by Anne Hull Grundy of Hampshire, 1979-83

11e Bracelet and pendant, bowtie/heart, flints and cairngorms, c.1850
Scottish jewellery was very popular in the 1850s to 60s, along with ‘Highland’ inspired fashions and textiles generally.  This was entirely due to Queen Victoria’s love of Balmoral.  This piece is composed of ‘bowtie’ flints and oval cairngorms (a yellow or wine coloured semi-precious stone) in silver claw settings.  The pendant heart/catch is a flint.

Given by Anne Hull Grundy of Hampshire, 1979-83

1860s-1890s – Jewellery from the Anne Hull Grundy Collection

12a Crucifix, Venice souvenir, aventurine, 1837-60
Souvenir jewellery was a Victorian craze; it could be said that the holiday abroad was their invention.  This pendant cross is of aventurine (a spangled quartz, imitated by brownish glasswith copper crystals).  Set in are tiny mosaics of Italian landscapes, with St. Mark’s lion as a centrepiece.

Given by Anne Hull Grundy of Hampshire, 1979-83

12b Brooch, memorial, bog oak, 1860-70
A single hand holding a spray or wreath is frequently seen in Victorian mourning jewellery, carved from Whitby jet.  The vegetation is yew (sorrow), roses (love) and pansies (I am always thinking of you).  Bog oak is a fossil wood found in peat bogs.  It was soft and carved easily and took a good polish.

Given by Anne Hull Grundy of Hampshire, 1979-83

12c Necklace, ‘drop diamonds’, bog oak, 1856-85
A simple, rather dateless design that could be worn later than the Victorian period. It is made up of ‘drop diamond’ shapes and round beads.  Three floral configurations are spaced around the necklace, and it has a brass ‘push and release’ clasp.

Given by Anne Hull Grundy of Hampshire, 1979-83

12d Brooch, violins and drums, silver, c.1880s
A novelty brooch, comprising an open music book and two violins flanking a drum with two padded drumsticks. It is made of five separate pieces of stamped silver, soldered together.

Given by Anne Hull Grundy of Hampshire, 1979-83

12e Tiara, bee orchid/butterfly, dyed horn, c.1900
In the Art Nouveau style, this tiara features a bee orchid with two butterflies (or moths) intertwined.  It has a heavyweight wire fixing attached, which may not be original.  It was probably made in France.

Given by Anne Hull Grundy of Hampshire, 1979-83