1920s Owl Stanhope Pendant
Weird and wonderful 1920s pendant carved from a single piece of Connemara marble and inset with a Stanhope micro photograph. The stone is carved as an owl, with one red paste eye missing, and a beautiful mottled mossy green colour. Look through the little round porthole on one side, and you'll see a set of magnified images: scenes from the British Empire Exhibition of 1924. The exhibition took place of the course of three months, located at Wembley Park in London, inspired by Britain's unease on the world stage post WW1 with the rise of two new powers: Japan and the USA. In 1917 Britain had committed itself eventually to leave India, which effectively signalled the end of the British Empire to anyone who thought about the consequences, while the Dominions had shown little interest in following British foreign policy since the war (source: Wikipedia).
These charming little Stanhopes (or Stanho-scopes, as they were also known) were all-the-rage during the latter half of the 19th century, and into the early 20th. I wonder if there was some sort of cottage industry set up to produce them in Ireland, as they're often carved from Irish bog oak or Connemara marble, like this one. Usually some type of animal - I've seen cats, bats, and pigs - with a series of micro photographs set inside, the subjects range from popular landmarks to tourist towns to Christian imagery and even the Lord's prayer. This one was clearly made to commemorate the big Empire festival thing, and was likely sold as a souvenir of the event.
Era: Art Deco circa 1924
Size: 25mm by 8.6mm
Stones: Connemara Marble. One paste gemstone eye remains
Marks: None
Condition: Fair. An eye is missing and it has a couple of chips - most notably to the tip of one "ear"
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