Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Necklace |
Catalog Number |
2014.015.00002 |
Description |
Necklace: made of metal link-and-bar chain interspersed with six pieces of dark blue glass. The links are solid metal in rectangular form with the middle slightly depressed and a corresponding flange on either side of the link. The dark blue glass beads are square in shape, set at an angle to chain. Each bead is checker faceted on one side and is table faceted on the other; set in a three-layered roped setting. Has a spring ring clasp. |
Material |
Metal/glass |
Dimensions |
W-1.5 L-52 inches |
Owned |
Varina Davis ; Mary O'Melia |
Event |
Evacuation of Richmond, April 2-3, 1865 (tentative) |
Provenance |
According to the donor's family, this necklace was given by Mrs. Varina Davis to Mary O'Melia, the Irish-American housekeeper for the White House of the Confederacy, in 1865. There is a tea set in the collection (0985.7.168-169) with documentation that Varina gave it to Mary on the occasion of the evacuation from Richmond in April 1865. It is possible that Varina may have given this necklace to Mary at the same time; alternatively, it may have been a gift made in postwar years, as the two women remained in contact. |
People |
Davis, Varina Banks Howell [Mrs. Jefferson] Howell, Varina Banks O'Melia, Mary Larkin |
Search Terms |
Evacuation of Richmond, April 2-3, 1865 (tentative) Richmond, Virginia capture and occupation of Richmond, Virginia, 1865-1870 |
Subjects |
women gifts jewelry immigrants |