The Hapeville Depot Museum is proud to host an author signing and lecture by Tanzi Ward for her new book Precious Black Jewels: The Bijou Material Culture of Black Victorians and Edwardians. Books for signing will be available. Talks will begin at 7PM.
From the Author, Tanzy Ward: Within the decorative arts realm, Black Victorians & Edwardians have long been absent from authentic representation—especially in antique jewelry references. Original jewelry catalogs and visual guides routinely excluded Black sitters, contributing to a broader Europeanization of antique imagery that left our Black ancestors overlooked, marginalized, and inaccurately portrayed. Therefore, I am grateful and deeply honored to introduce my forthcoming book, Precious Black Jewels: The Bijou Material Culture of Black Victorians & Edwardians. As a Black antique dealer, I have long been captivated by the material-cultural elegance and inner dignity our ancestors embodied, even in the face of the caricatures that sought to misrepresent them. There is something profoundly moving about discovering a photographic stickpin or locket that holds the portrait of a Black ancestor. Though they embraced many of the same sentimental jewelry traditions of their era, their exquisite collections remain underrepresented and insufficiently researched. This work seeks to honor and illuminate their bijou legacy. In Precious Black Jewels, I not only reference Black Victorians and Edwardians when discussing antique jewelry trends and identification, but the publication also serves as a homage to accurate Black Americana. Every photograph featured in this book is sourced from my personal archive, the Tanzy A. Ward Antique Photography Collection. The volume includes vivid, original antique portraits of Black Victorians adorned in a variety of jewelry pieces. Special emphasis is placed on photographic jewelry—brooches, pins, and other portrait pieces depicting Black ancestors—with an entire chapter devoted to memento jewelry and the symbolic ways Black communities honored their loved ones. I love and deeply appreciate how Black Victorians and Edwardians were just as diverse and individualized in their personal jewelry choices as anyone else. Some portraits reveal sitters wearing simple, understated designs, while others show individuals draped in layered accessories that reflect their distinctive aesthetic preferences. Regardless of style, each one displays an unparalleled sense of poise, elegance, and dignity that is truly awe-inspiring. Like their contemporaries, Black Victorians also wore symbolic pieces that expressed their beliefs, values, and personal sentiments. Within the book, each chapter is dedicated to a specific jewelry style, and the elegant antique Black photography from my archives is used to illustrate these historical looks for accurate identification and reference. Lovely scarf pins, Prince Albert chains, watch fobs in various styles, intricately designed necklaces, and delicate earrings are among the antique jewelry forms featured in Precious Black Jewels. It is also an honor to showcase photographic pin designs—rare and deeply symbolic pieces of material culture that reflect the seldom-represented presence of Black memento and mourning jewelry. It would be remiss not to include chapters that emphasize the significance and preservation of the bijou material culture Black families used to honor loved ones and strengthen family bonds throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is truly an honor to publish Precious Black Jewels. The material culture our ancestors left behind deserves to be preserved, studied, and thoughtfully represented. They are, after all, the precious Black jewels who paved the way.