Inspiration
Inspired by the story of a jewellery shop with a most beguiling name.
My inspiration for this bracelet is drawn from the story of a jewellery shop, that used to be situated not far from my workshop by Smithfields Market in London, which had the name of The Silver Mousetrap.
It took its unusual name from the strange practice of making and selling actual Mousetraps fashioned in silver. Opened in 1650 The Silver Mousetrap closed its doors in 1980 making it the longest established jewellery shop in London & possibly in the world.
Georgian London was unrecognisable, in many ways, from the London that we know today. Pest control for example was in its infancy & mice in particular have never had it so good since.
At the time the most popular and fashionable hairstyle for elegant ladies was the Pompadour style of piled high, up-do’s. These were very expensive and time consuming to create and once set, with the aide of flour & plaster, the ladies could keep them in for weeks at a time.
A hazard of this is that mice would nest in the gargantuan hairstyles during the night and were known to make un-welcome appearances at lunch or supper tables, racing down the ladies arms and onto the table to partake of the delicacies.
The preferred remedy to avoid this embarrassment was to have your lady in waiting set mousetraps, made of silver to reflect your refined tastes, around your hair as you slept with the goal of enticing & exterminating your unwelcome visitors before they could help themselves to your cake!
Description
Cute, gothic and unique this piece of special jewellery makes a statement bracelet to enliven any outfit from a dead mouse found beneath my London floor boards.
This cute mouse, immortalised in solid silver, is bound to delight as it scampers cheekily around any ladies wrist.
A true conversation starter - this cheeky and daring design gives something transient a life forever. Before i cast my magic spell over this little corpse it may not have necessarily been considered to be beautiful, now this little fellow is undisputedly splendid made up of solid sterling silver with pellucid pink tourmalines for peepers.
Dimension/Size
Mouse is approx an 2.5cm wide and 10cm long from nose to tip of tail. The clasp is 2.5 cm wide. Overall length of the bracelet is 18.5cm long. This is a medium size, if you would like smaller or larger then please get in touch.
Material Used
Rose Gold Vermeil
Solid Sterling Silver
Pink Tourmalines
