Vintage & Antique Brooches

From functional jewelry pieces to gemstone embellishments, brooches have come a long way through the years. A symbol of elegance, status and wealth, that was very popular among the society of the upper class. People didn't start to use brooches as beautiful decorative items for clothes, but to hold their clothing together. Referred to as fibulae in Roman times, brooches were functional pins, with their origins stretching back as far as the Bronze age. They could be made of any metal, gemstone or adornment and attached to any garment or accessory. People used to wear them at their waist, on a collar, or even to tie a scarf. As more metalworking techniques were invented to hold clothing together, the brooches evolved into more decorative pieces. They were often ornately decorated to communicate the identity, ethnicity and other qualities of the wearer. The most popular themes included bouquets of stylized flowers, animals, bows, miniature portraits and the fountain motif. Some brooches were representative of the class, others had social or religious significance, such as the mourning brooches worn to commemorate the death of