1816 Inside A Dining Room By Martin Drolling. Bridgerton and Jane Austen household. Via Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.org (PD-ART)
Wedding ring customs that originated in long ago history.
Betrothal ring – An old Roman custom confirming that the marriage contract would be carried out. It was the first part of a dowry given, and it meant the woman was no longer for sale as the first part of the monetary settlement had been paid.
Wedding ring – many primitive peoples who believed in magic used a rope around the waist or the hand and feet, and later a ring, to symbolise that the bride was captured and spoken for, and also to ward off any evil spirits hovering around the bride and ensure marital bliss.
The ring hand– a symbol of the humiliating tradition of the man as the master – the right hand of the family – and the woman being the slave . The right hand stood for power and authority while the left hand expressed submission and serfdom.
The ring finger – Ancient Greek and Roman anatomists believed a vein or nerve led from the heart to the third finger – the healing finger – so they romantically linked this finger to the heart. There are also some more practical reasons the third finger continues to be used. It’s the most prominent for displaying a ring, and it cannot be extended to its full length on its own and usually remains slightly bent, preventing the ring slipping off.
So next time you look at a wedding ring, you can think back to how it came to be on someone’s left third finger,
Rituals of courting and marriage from ‘How Did it Begin’ by R. Brasch first published in 1965. In the word ‘Wedlock’, the lock isn’t a lock and chain but the Anglo-Saxon for gift, as wed means a promise. Wedlock pledged the gift of the happiness of a man and a woman. Nearly all courtship rituals can be traced back to early practises designed to ensure the fertility of a union. Kissing is thought to have started because primitive man believed exhaled air had magic power.
Signing an X for a kiss began in the Middle Ages when people were illiterate and used an X to sign and would then kiss the parchment to affirm their sincerity, like kissing the Bible to take an oath. The word ‘Spooning’ to describe courting came for the custom of young men in Wales to carve an elaborate spoon to give as a love token to the girl of their choice in the place of an engagement ring. Leap year proposals by women to men were a rare chance for women to correct an unjust state of affairs, just as the extra day in a leap year was a topsy-turvy day, a leapt over day in other years. In a time when there was a surplus of women, it was a chance of ensuring they were not left on the shelf.
In Jane Austen’s times craftsmen created boxes and containers of precious metals, leather, silks, and decorated them with jewels. Boxes, Cases, Etui, Necessaire and everything else that was used to carry essential items for travel, sewing, medicine, writing, and toiletries. Containers were engraved to make exquisite and expensive items as well as practical carrying cases. books2read.com/suziloveBoxesCases
A sedan chair is a portable enclosed chair for a single passenger. It was generally carried by two “chairmen” holding poles attached to either side of the chair. Sedan chairs were fashionable in England and Europe during the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries and were an important part of the social life of the times. They were very useful for negotiating crowded, unsafe, narrow, winding and often filthy streets and were particularly used by “invalids, ladies and party goers”. Sedan chairs had the advantage of being able to be carried up and down stairs and could deliver the passenger from inside their own home to inside their destination without having to step outside.
1784 Sedan Chair. ‘The return from a masquerade. A morning scene.’ A young lady dressed as shepherdess with staff slumps in a sedan chair. Asleep or drunk her head and shoulders hang outside window. Two porters smile and dwarf chimney sweep carries a mask.’ By Robert Dighton and Cari.
The 19th century English author, Elizabeth Gaskell, described the use and function of the sedan perfectly in her novel “Wives and Daughters” when she reminisced how the Browning sisters chose to be transported to a ball by sedan chair, which ‘came into the parlor, and got full of the warm air, and nipped you up, and carried you tight and cosy into another warm room, where you could walk out without having to show your legs by going up steps, or down steps.’
The Bath Chair was invented in Bath, England, in the mid 18th Century to transport the wealthy and the sick around the city. It could be steered by the passenger and rivaled and then outdid the Sedan Chair as only one chairman was needed to operate it. The last Bath Chairman retired in 1949.
Typical 1700s, or Eighteenth Century Sedan Chair. Portable enclosed chair for single passenger usually carried by two chairmen holding poles attached to either side of chair. Fashionable during 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries when needed to negotiate crowded, unsafe, narrow, and dirty streets. Used by invalids, ladies and party goers. The sedan chair comprises a small kiosk with a curved timber roof which is covered with leather and studded with brass nails. The front and side panels are painted in green with floral decorations of cherubs and flowers. The back panel is of plain timber. Access to the chair was via a hinged door at the front. Inside, the chair is upholstered in silk and features padded upholstered arm rests. The windows have raw silk curtains which are gathered with tassels. The present brackets and poles are reproductions made in 1986 prior to display in the Transport exhibition. The total length of the new poles are 80 inches. The sedan chair door lock features the initials “V.F.” and a set of crossed keys with the wording “PARIS” and the number “34”. Via Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia.
Typical 1700s, or Eighteenth Century Sedan Chair. Portable enclosed chair for single passenger usually carried by two chairmen holding poles attached to either side of chair. Fashionable during 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries when needed to negotiate crowded, unsafe, narrow, and dirty streets. Used by invalids, ladies and party goers. The sedan chair comprises a small kiosk with a curved timber roof which is covered with leather and studded with brass nails. The front and side panels are painted in green with floral decorations of cherubs and flowers. The back panel is of plain timber. Access to the chair was via a hinged door at the front. Inside, the chair is upholstered in silk and features padded upholstered arm rests. The windows have raw silk curtains which are gathered with tassels. The present brackets and poles are reproductions made in 1986 prior to display in the Transport exhibition. The total length of the new poles are 80 inches. The sedan chair door lock features the initials “V.F.” and a set of crossed keys with the wording “PARIS” and the number “34”. Via Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia.
The longest journey recorded in a sedan chair was made by Princess Amelia, youngest daughter of King George III, who in 1728 was carried by 8 chairmen working in reliefs from London to Bath, a distance of 172 kms (107 miles). This sedan chair door lock features the initials “V.F.” and a set of crossed keys with the wording “PARIS” and the number “34”.
Reader or Writer of Regency Era Books? Love the Bridgertons and Jane Austen? Nonfiction book, Older Gentleman’s Day, gives an overview of his daily life by Award Winning researcher and author, Suzi Love. A sometimes comical look at an older gentleman’s clothing, social life, and responsibilities in the early 1800s. Take a look at where he went, what he wore, and how he managed the family’s finances. Older Gentleman’s Day, Regency Life Series Book 3 books2read.com/suziloveOGD
Regency is the time period in England that began in 1811 when King George III had increasing bouts of madness and was finally declared mad. The Prince of Wales was officially named Regent, often referred to as “Prinny”, and the Regency period ran until 1820 when King George III died and the prince was crowned King George IV. The long Regency era is from the time of Jane Austen and the Napoleonic Wars until the time Queen Victoria ascended the throne.
1826 Sights the Bridgertons and Jane Austen Saw Around Regency England. The sights that the families and friends would have seen around while traveling around England. via 1826 The English Spy By Robert Cruikshank via Google Books (PD-150)
1818 December Morning and Evening Dresses, possibly for mourning as Princess Charlotte died in 1817. Published by Dean and Munday, Threadneedle Street, London, U.K.
Walking Dress is a plain high dress of black bombazine with long sleeves. Skirt trimmed on hem with a broad bias piece of black crape with narrow puffing of black crape. Sleeve hem has three narrow puffings of black crape. Fastens in front and ornamented on the bust with black crape, no collar but a very full mourning ruff of clear muslin. Over this dress is a Spanish coat of fine black Merino, cut tight to the body, short in the waist and trimmed with a row of black buttons on each side of the bust. Black velvet collar is finished round the edge with black crape, long sleeves of an easy fullness and trimmed at the wrist the same as the collar. Very tasteful epaulette is a mixture of black velvet and crape. Skirt is slightly full, trimmed up the fronts and round the hem with a broad band of black velvet, edged on each side by narrow rouleaux of black crape.
Dinner Dress is of black crape over a black sarsnet slip with a gored skirt, trimmed on the hem with black crape flounces, lower very narrow and higher considerably broader and surmounted by another narrow one. They are scalloped and finished at the edge by black satin, narrow rouleau of the same material heads top and bottom flounce. Corsage of black satin cut very low round the bust and waist and bust finished French style with points of black crape. Short full sleeve of black satin with three falls of black crape on the shoulder. Via Lady’s Monthly Museum ~ Dean & Mundy, Threadneedle Street, London, UK.
1814 Statistics On Classes, Properties and Population In Great Britain. From: 1814 A Treatise On Wealth and Power. By Patrick Colquhoun. These are the statistics for England in Jane Austen’s time, or the early 1800s, or Regency Era.
Writing Regency Era Fiction Or Nonfiction? Need more information on Older Gentleman’s Day in early 1800s, or Bridgerton’s and Jane Austen’s Regency Era. A lighthearted overview of an older gentleman’s clothing, social life, and responsibilities in the early 1800s. Take a look at where an older man went, what he wore, and how he managed the family’s finances and his estates. Older Gentleman’s Day Regency Life Series Book 3 books2read.com/suziloveOGD
What Did An Older Gentleman Do In Early 1800s, or Jane Austen’s Regency Era? An overview of an older gentleman’s clothing, social life, and responsibilities in the early 1800s. Take a look at where he went, what he wore, and how he managed the family’s finances. Older Gentleman’s Day Regency Life Series Book 3 books2read.com/suziloveOGD
Strictly speaking, the REGENCY ERA refers to the years between 1811 and 1820 when George IV acted as Prince Regent when his father was unable to remain in power due to his illness, or rather his madness. For convenience, the term REGENCY YEARS is used to describe the longer period from the last two years of the Georgian Era (1809-1810), plus the ten years under the Prince Regent (1811-1820), and up until 1837 when Queen Victoria came to the throne.
1819 January Two Fashion Plates By Dean and Mundy For Mourning: Winter Carriage and Evening Dresses. High-waisted carriage dress, cuffs edged with white lace and trimmed with gray frog closures, matching plumed hat and shawl. Empire style evening dress with short sleeves and wide neckline trimmed with scallops of white lace, skirt trimmed with white rosettes, evening upswept hairstyle. Fashion Plates Published by Dean and Munday, 1819, London.
Mourning wear was worn in Britain during the regency Era, firstly for Princess Charlotte who died in England on November 6th, 1817, or then for Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III and grandmother of Princess Charlotte, who died on November 17th, 1818. All the fashion magazines featured numerous outfits in black suitable for mourning, followed by many for half mourning in colors of grey, black with touches of white, and later mauve or lavender.
Black was worn for full mourning with various other colors were worn during the months of half mourning, including grey and mauve. However, as black dresses, black tunics, and black lace shawls were popular throughout the Regency years, it is often hard to decide what was definitely made for mourning and what was simply fashionable wear.
After the death of H.R. H. Princess Charlotte on November 7th, 1817, official court mourning was ordered. ‘The ladies to wear black bombazines, plain muslin or long lawn crape hoods, shamoy shoes and gloves, and crape fans. The gentlemen to wear black cloth without buttons on the sleeves or pockets, plain muslin or long lawn cravats and weepers, shamoy shoes and gloves, crape hat bands, and black swords and buckles.’ Two months later, a change of mourning attire was ordered.
