Often given as tokens of affection, sometimes before embarking on long journeys, Victorian era sweetheart pins are a master class in fitting as many symbols of love and fidelity into one piece of jewelry as possible. This pin is an especially impressive example- set on a background of double horseshoes (for luck), hung with two small hearts (for love), with a garland of forget-me-nots (for love and enduring memory), ending in ivy leaves (for fidelity), with a centerpiece of a padlock shaped like a heart (for commitment and everlasting love). The forget-me-nots and ivy leaves are accented in rose and yellow gold, while the rest of the pin is made of sterling silver.
The pin is in excellent condition, and has all of the British hallmarks for silver, a date mark for 1894, an anchor denoting it was assayed in Birmingham, and a maker's mark with the letters WT
