Victorian "France Espoir" Heart Locket
A large, beautifully enameled late 19th-century silver heart locket that represents a fascinating chapter in French political history.
Designed to incorporate the heraldic shields of the French regions Alsace, the Duchy of Lorraine, and Ile de France arranged around an anchor with a banner crowning the group featuring the phrase "France Espoir," translating to "France Hopes," with a hinged glass cover on the reverse.
It's a truly gorgeous piece of craftsmanship worked in a veritable symphony of symbolism, referencing the struggles inherent in centuries of clashing ethnic cultural pride and conflicting nationalistic loyalties.
A border of ivy leaves (symbolizing fidelity) and forget-me-nots (eponymous) frames the shields while the ornate bail is decorated by both enameled forget-me-nots and pansies ("remember me").
DETAILS: Approximately 2 1/2" from the top of the bail to the bottom of the heart, and 1 3/8" at the widest. Hung from a solidly made 24" sterling silver cable chain with a sturdy lobster claw clasp.
CONDITION: In excellent condition with a rich antique patina and some light wear to the enamel on the heart's bail and the black border around the edge of the locket. Not marked for metal content but acid tests to around 900 silver. The chain is marked for sterling.
INFO: In a nutshell: the regions of Alsace and the Duchy of Lorraine, which straddle the border between France and Germany, have been the source of political and cultural disputes between the two countries for nearly 1,000 years, going back to the time of Charlemagne.
In 1871, as a result of the Franco-Prussian war, these areas were annexed to the German Empire, under which they remained until the end of WWI. As can be imagined, not all citizens of the regions in question accepted the change in nationality; they'd been soldily considered French since the middle of the 17th century, and there remained with many a strong bond to France.
In the late 1880s increasingly ferverent protests were mounted to this end; clashes both petty and vicious between the German military and the Alsatian population were recorded. It got very nasty, as such situations are apt to do, resulting in a movement known as "revanchisme", or "revenge", and after the end of WWI the territories were ceded back to France as part of the Treaty of Versailles signed in 1919.