<I>Bouquet holder, wheat motif</I>

ca.1830-1920

Four-sided silver posy holder. The vase is composed of four symmetrical panels designed to appear like a stock of wheat. The delicate threadlike silver grows sinuously from a central shaft each ending in a tendril. Then intricate features are encapsulated in a thin silver lip that domes at the top. A chain and pin extend from the center of the holder. This pin would be pushed the vase, thus piercing the stems to keep them in place. The handle of the bouquet holder is a straight-shafted ending in a round ball. It is formed by two chased wheat stalks that extend up the handle and is repeated at the four lower corners of the bowl of the vase. A chain and ring are attached to the ball at the end of the shaft allowing the bouquet holder to be worn about the finger or on a chatelaine at the waist to free the lady's hands while dancing. Wheat was a popular motif at the time and symbolic the harvest, bounty, fertility, and the Resurrection. Typically associated with autumn, this may be indicative of the time of year or the occasion which it commemorated.