Alice KR Bailey

I specialise in Early Modern Material Culture, focusing on jewellery which was believed to hold an active power. Jewellery represents life from every aspect, from cradle to grave and every piece of jewellery has meaning. This was especially prominent in the Early Modern period. From charms given to bless or give luck in childbirth, to teething corals and ivories and silver rattles, jewellery was believed to offer medical aid, salvation, prevention of sudden death. It would show devotion, to God, the church, your husband or wife, your children or your family name, and your family wealth. It would also act as a memento and a memento mori, as a reminder of those passed and to allow meditation on your own human condition. My project will explore these powerful jewels and the mediators of the knowledge of this embodied power, in an effort to understand a more rounded view of the materiality of belief in the Early Modern period in Britain.