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A vintage double heart brooch surmounted with a crown, profusely hand engraved with foliate scrolls, centrally set with an oval facetted garnet in a claw setting. The reverse has a hinged pin and c-scroll safety clasp, and is marked ‘JH’, ‘STERLING’ ‘SILVER’ ‘SCOTLAND’.
John Hart trained as an engraver before joining the Glasgow silversmithing firm Celtic Art Industries. By the early 1950s he had established himself as an independent silversmith and sold much of his work to The Iona Shop which had branches in Glasgow and Oban. In 1979 he retired and his son (also called John) merged his own fledgling workshop with his father’s at Iochdar in South Uist.
Scottish heart brooches are often referred to as luckenbooths, with the name coming from the locked booths that housed the goldsmithing quarter in Edinburgh next to St Giles Kirk. The hearts are often capped with crowns, such as this example, and many were known to have acted as betrothal and wedding gifts particularly during the eighteenth century. They were also occasionally called witches brooches as they were believed to offer protection against witchcraft.
Dimensions:
Height 4.6cm
Width 3.7cm
Weight 7.4g