Posted 7 years ago
TassieDevil
(175 items)
Hello everyone.
Bought this on the weekend from an antique shop as I recognized the teeth as being elks teeth from seeing them on some BPOE (Benevolent Protective Order of Elks) pieces. Thought it would be easy to confirm but after searching realized that most of the BPOE pieces had the clock and the elk as well as the teeth, so this piece did not belong with this group!
Never mind, was a nice watch chain for a vest anyway, and I liked the teeth too.......in the last picture are some more teeth, fox i think, unmounted, that came with the chain. I think these might be hunting trophies both elk and fox.
The chain was really grubby so I gave it a little clean and found a silver? hallmark, see picture 3, I have no idea what is says lol, I would guess German, I am sure someone will know!
Anyway, after trying to think outside the box I started searching around hunting trophy things and well, this is where Charivari came up!!
Perhaps this watch chain was at the start of becoming a Charivari (which means "decorative chain"......I will post a link in comments so you can read all about them if you like. Apparently a lot of Charivari started out as watch chains!!
Interested to hear your thoughts on this one, thanks Judy
Link is not working so will copy and paste the part of the article, hopefully!!
Charivari (pronounced "schariwari") is a piece of traditional Bavarian costume jewellery made of solid silver or of rare silver-plated chain, adorned with trinkets, gemstone, coins (or possibly medals), horn discs, carved deer teeth, antlers, animal paws, badger hair, or other game teeth.[1][2]
Origin and use
The name charivari (from the Latin caribaria meaning "mess" or "madness") came into the German-speaking world during the Napoleonic era. At that time it had a secondary, more important, meaning of "pandemonium" or "commotion". This meaning has continued in both English and French until the present day.[3][4]
Bavarian men wear the charivari on the belt of their lederhosen and the women wear it on their dirndl. The charivari traditionally served as jewellry or as a talisman for a successful hunt. For farmers it served as a valuable status symbol. The charivari probably originated from a watch chain, which was attached to the buttonhole of the costume shirt and hung from time to time with various hunting trophies.[5] It could not be bought, was carefully preserved and was passed down in a single family through the generations.
Thanks very much to all 12 lovers for taking the time to view this unusual piece. Always great to have you visit and very much appreciated:-))
Thank you Rick, I really appreciate the love:-)
Thanks for the love Sean!
Thanks so much for the love Buckethead, really appreciated :-)