Victorian Folk Art Carved Walnut Shell Necklace

It's no secret that Victorian ladies loved their at-home arts and crafts! 

From silhouette portrait drawing to creating rustic frames out of seeds and pine cones, these miscellaneous household elegancies were a fun and rewarding way to decorate the home and pass the time. 

One particularly popular handicraft involved creating decorative items out of nutshells, especially walnut shells. The mottled, spotted and marbled texture of the shells along with their resemblance to wood appealed to many 19th century crafters. 

Nut baskets, wall pockets, Christmas ornaments, children's fairy cradles, the decorative power of these little shells was limitless! 

This weird and wonderful little necklace is an excellent example of Victorian era nut art. It is intricately hand carved with a sacred heart on one side and two birds holding a letter on the other. 

Walnut shell carvings like this have been popular in China for generations, but particularly in the 19th and early 20th century. However, the subject matter of this piece makes us believe that it is either European of American, as the traditional Chinese carvings use Asian iconography. 

While we don't believe this piece was originally intended to be worn as a pendant, we do believe it deserves to be a modern day statement piece!