A Hand-Me Down Treasure: Pearls & Sapphires
My great-grandmother's broach
Alice (Devine) Kerkow was my great-grandmother. She was born in Minnesota in 1890, ran away to be married in 1910, and raised four children, living through two world wars, a great depression and so much more.
When I consider the challenges of farm life (first as the daughter of a farmer and later as the wife of a farmer) and the heartbreak that she must have felt when she was shunned by her Irish Catholic family for marrying a German Lutheran, I wonder just what the occasion may have been for being gifted the broach and what it may have cost.
The pin embodies my great-grandmother: It’s very lady-like, proper and oh so pretty with faux pearls and tiny sapphires. The detail in the silver leaf design is gorgeous. The overall size is about 1.5 inches in diameter. I continue to search for a photo of her wearing the pin, but haven’t found one yet.
I’m not sure what will happen to this pin after I’m gone, which is why I took the time to photograph it and attempt to trace its pedigree. It seems to be from the 1950s. I’ve done google image searches and haven’t found anything too helpful.
Have you seen a pin like this before? Have you photographed the hand-me-down’s you’ve received?
I have a lot of pieces similar to this in a couple small boxes that look like costume jewelry that belonged to my grandma. In her case I doubt anything would be anything more than costume but I love looking at them. Some are so pretty.
That makes total sense. Have you worn it? If not, you should try to work it into an outfit sometime.