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An Adoring Gaze: Lovers Eye Jewelry
February 01, 2025
Artist Unknown, “Lover’s Eye” Brooch, watercolor on ivory in gold setting, 1839, Promised gift of Charles G. Schoenknecht and Ward A. Paul, L11.2022.1082.
As the story goes, in 1785, Maria Anne Fitzherbert opened a letter from her admirer, Prince George of Wales, and found a little more than what she was expecting. At the time, royal laws forbade a Catholic widow to remarry and become a monarch, but the Prince was determined. He wrote a passionate letter, begging for Fitzherbert’s hand in marriage.
This letter ended with “I send you a parcel and I send you at the same time an Eye.” Tucked into the package was a very small painting of just Prince George’s eye. While there is, unfortunately, no record documenting how Fitzherbert reacted to the eye itself, the star-crossed lovers were soon wed in a covert ceremony. As a wedding gift, Fitzherbert had her own eye painted and gifted to her new husband.
The Prince of Wales and Fitzherbert weren’t the only couple exchanging eyes in 18th-century England. Eye miniatures, also known as lover’s eyes, continued to be popular for the next half-century. Most were created as gifts expressing devotion to loved ones, while others were painted in memory of the deceased.
But why eyes and not just a portrait?
While much remains unknown, looking at late 18th-century British culture does give a few answers. The act of “seeing and being seen” was extremely popular at the time, and while social codes limited public interactions between the opposite sex, looks could easily be exchanged with no words and no physical contact. Subtle glances can- and did- convey many different emotions and messages. These looks and their subsequent lover’s eye paintings could express devotion, adoration, longing, and lust between individuals who may not have been allowed to show these intimate emotions otherwise.
The GVSU Art Museum is lucky to have recently obtained a lover’s eye brooch for its permanent collection. But it is steeped in mystery- whose eye was this, and who was its lucky recipient?