Read My Pins (22 page)

Spider Walia stickpin, Jewelry 10; green and silver spider, E. Spence; other designers unknown.

Crouching green and gold frog, Kenneth Jay Lane; other designers unknown.

The frog, for instance, is associated in many cultures with the creation myth, although I think of it more in the context of Moses and the second plague of Egypt (“The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your beds.”). As for the spider, it has been renowned since ancient times for its patience, wile, and predatory attitude. I wear my spider pin—complete with web and fly—when I am feeling devious; if you see it on any day except Halloween, beware.

The butterfly, emerging from the chrysalis, was considered by the Greeks to be a symbol of the soul. In the art nouveau period, around the end of the nineteenth century, a popular jewelry design showed the body of a woman with the wings of a butterfly. This symbolized the liberation of women.

The liberation of a country was commemorated by the Cartier company when, in 1944, Nazi occupiers were driven from France. The brooch showed an open cage and a bird singing. Two years earlier, when the storm troopers seized Paris, the company had produced a similar piece, except with the birds locked up.

COURTESY OF THE CARTIER ARCHIVES/ © CARTIER
Archival drawing of
Oiseaux en Cage
, courtesy of Cartier.

N. WELSH/CARTIER COLLECTION/ © CARTIER
L’Oiseau Libéré
, 1944, courtesy of Cartier.

Moonstone Dandelion Puff, Mauboussin.

Flowers, too, are abundant in my collection. Like animals and bugs, various species of flora have acquired a distinctive meaning in literature and lore. The pansy is supposed to indicate thoughtfulness; ivy signifies fidelity; the lotus and the orchid were representative of the supposedly lethargic East; and the forget-me-not is a plea, well, not to forget. Flowers are usually for happier times, yet the lily has mournful connotations as well.

It would be inaccurate to suggest that I spend my spare time carefully arranging my brooches according to their affinity for one another. I am conscious, though, of the varieties that I have collected and am pleased to add to certain groups on occasion. There are, however, some unusual pin ideas that must be considered on their own.

Rose de Noël, Van Cleef & Arpels.