Suffrage jewellery refers to jewellery worn by suffragists, including suffragettes, in the years immediately preceding the First World War, ranging from the homemade to the mass-produced to fine, one-off Arts and Crafts pieces. Its primary purpose was to demonstrate its wearer's allegiance to the cause of women's suffrage in the UK. Jewellery was a key mechanism used by British suffragists to identify themselves. [1]
The suffragettes, in particular, successfully embraced the language of contemporary fashion - including its emphasis on delicate femininity - as a strategy for increasing the popular appeal of their movement and dodging the stereotype of the 'masculine' women's rights campaigner. As fashion lecturer Cally Blackman notes, "Membership numbers grew, and it became fashionable to identify with the struggle for the vote, even if only by wearing a small piece of jewellery picked out in semi-precious coloured stones or enamel." [2]
Most suffragette jewellery featured the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) colours: purple, white, and green. There is some disagreement over who designed this visual branding - either prominent WSPU member Sylvia Pankhurst, who had trained at the Manchester School of Art and the Royal College of Art [1] or Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, co-editor of Votes for Women. [2] Association with the suffragette cause became so fashionable by 1908 that Mappin & Webb, holders of royal warrants for jewellery since 1897, issued a catalogue of suffragette jewellery. [3]
There appear to have been close links between the suffragettes and the artists of the Arts and Crafts movement. [1]
Popular designs for suffrage jewellery included Sylvia Pankhurst's 'Angel of Freedom' design, hatpins in the shape of an arrow to evoke the prison convict's arrow, and badges displaying photos of the WSPU leaders.
Some writers, particularly those focused on the collectors' market, argue that the significance of jewellery as a means of self-identification with the Suffragette Movement is overstated, due to the popularity of these jewellery colours before and after the period in which suffragettes were most active. [3] However, as scholar Elizabeth Goring notes, the purple-white-green colour combination was deeply symbolic of the Suffragette Movement and the use of these colours "offered a powerful means by which suffragettes could publicly advertise their identity," and would not be construed as merely decorative by others. [1]
The dearth of items identified explicitly as suffragette jewellery in major collections can be partly attributed to the difficulty of using colour alone, without specific date of origin or other documentation, to distinguish this jewellery from other Edwardian jewellery. Association of medals with the Suffragette Movement is more straightforward, and in 2015 the gallantry medal awarded to Mary Aldham was sold at auction for £23,450. [4]
The Museum of London permanent collection contains an example of a bespoke piece of suffragette jewellery with clear provenance, created by Ernestine Mills to commemorate the release from Holloway Prison of Louise Mary Eates, Secretary of Kensington Women's Social and Political Union.
Emmeline Pankhurst was a British political activist who organised the UK suffragette movement and helped women win the right to vote. In 1999, Time named her as one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century, stating that "she shaped an idea of objects for our time" and "shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back". She was widely criticised for her militant tactics, and historians disagree about their effectiveness, but her work is recognised as a crucial element in achieving women's suffrage in the United Kingdom.
The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom from 1903 to 1918. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership and policies were tightly controlled by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Christabel and Sylvia; Sylvia was eventually expelled.
Black Friday was a suffragette demonstration in London on 18 November 1910, in which 300 women marched to the Houses of Parliament as part of their campaign to secure voting rights for women. The day earned its name from the violence meted out to protesters, some of it sexual, by the Metropolitan Police and male bystanders.
Flora McKinnon Drummond, was a British suffragette. Nicknamed 'The General' for her habit of leading Women's Rights marches wearing a military style uniform 'with an officers cap and epaulettes' and riding on a large horse, Drummond was an organiser for the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and was imprisoned nine times for her activism in the Women's Suffrage movement. Drummond's main political activity was organising and leading rallies, marches and demonstrations. She was an accomplished orator and had a reputation for being able to put down hecklers with ease.
Mary Eleanor Gawthorpe was an English suffragette, socialist, trade unionist and editor. She was described by Rebecca West as "a merry militant saint".
A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members of the British Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), a women-only movement founded in 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst, which engaged in direct action and civil disobedience. In 1906, a reporter writing in the Daily Mail coined the term suffragette for the WSPU, derived from suffragist, in order to belittle the women advocating women's suffrage. The militants embraced the new name, even adopting it for use as the title of the newspaper published by the WSPU.
Ernestine Evans Mills was an English metalworker and enameller who became known as an artist, writer and suffragette. She was the author of The Domestic Problem, Past, Present, and Future (1925). Three pieces of jewellery that Mills created for the suffragettes are in the Museum of London.
Mary Elizabeth Phillips was an English suffragette, feminist and socialist. She was the longest prison serving suffragette. She worked for Christabel Pankhurst but was sacked; she then worked for Sylvia Pankhurst as Mary Pederson or Mary Paterson. In later life she supported women's and children's organisations.
Jessica "Jessie" Kenney (1887–1985) was an English suffragette who was jailed for assaulting the Prime Minister and Home Secretary in a protest to gain suffrage for women in the UK. Details of a bombing campaign to support their cause were discovered by the authorities in her flat when Kenney was sent abroad to convalesce. She later trained as a wireless operator but worked as a stewardess.
Florence Eliza Haig (1856–1952) was a Scottish artist and suffragette who was decorated for imprisonments and hunger strikes.
Lucy Minnie Baldock was a British suffragette. Along with Annie Kenney, she co-founded the first branch in London of the Women's Social and Political Union.
Women's Sunday was a suffragette march and rally held in London on 21 June 1908. Organised by Emmeline Pankhurst's Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) to persuade the Liberal government to support votes for women, it is thought to have been the largest demonstration to be held until then in the country.
Caroline Phillips was a Scottish feminist, suffragette and journalist. She was honorary secretary of the Aberdeen branch of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), met and corresponded with many of the leaders of the movement and was also involved in the organisation of militant action in Aberdeen.
Edith Hudson was a British nurse and suffragette. She was an active member of the Edinburgh branch of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and was arrested several times for her part in their protests in Scotland and London. She engaged in hunger strikes while in prison and was forcibly fed. She was released after the last of these strikes under the so-called Cat and Mouse Act. Hudson was awarded a Hunger Strike Medal 'for Valour' by the WSPU.
Louise Mary Eates was a British suffragette, chair of Kensington Women's Social and Political Union and a women's education activist.
The Holloway brooch was presented by the Women's Social and Political Union (WPSU) to women who had been imprisoned at Holloway Prison for militant suffragette activity. It is also referred to as the "Portcullis badge", the "Holloway Prison brooch" and the "Victoria Cross of the Union".
Helen Millar Pethick-Lawrence, Baroness Pethick-Lawrence was a suffragette and pharmacist.
The Hunger Strike Medal was a silver medal awarded between August 1909 and 1914 to suffragette prisoners by the leadership of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). During their imprisonment, they went on hunger strike while serving their sentences in the prisons of the United Kingdom for acts of militancy in their campaign for women's suffrage. Many women were force-fed and their individual medals were created to reflect this.
"The Women's Marseillaise" was the former Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) official anthem. It was sung to the tune of La Marseillaise and included words about women's suffrage written by Florence MacAulay. The song was sung by suffragists in both the United Kingdom and the United States.
Anna Lewis (1889–1976) was a British suffragette, member of the militant Women's Social and Political Union. Lewis was imprisoned at least three times, went on hunger strike and was force-fed by the authorities, fighting the cause of women's rights to vote. Lewis was awarded the Holloway brooch (twice) and the WPSU Hunger Strike Medal on 10 February 1914 'for Valour'. Her medals were auctioned to a private buyer for over £27,000, one of the highest prices for such items in May 2019.