c. 1820-40 French Poissardes Earrings

A charming pair of c. 1820-40 French ‘poissardes’ earrings, filigree and enamel decorated in 18k gold, with an elongated hoop construction, a front hook-catch, inner rod support, and rounded loops at the upper tip (which prevents forward-tipping when worn). The center cartouche with an enameled pansy—a word play on “pensez à moi”, French for “think of me”— was a popular motif in French regional jewels made in Normandy, suggesting this pair is either Norman-made or Paris-made in the Norman style. A similar c. 1820 Paris-made Norman style poissardes is in the Victoria & Albert museum (inv. M.95:1, 2-2007). Another pair is illustrated on p. 32 of “Georgian Jewellery 1714-1830” by Ginny Redington Dawes with Olivia Collings. Six pairs are further illustrated on p. 43 of “French Jewellery of the Nineteenth Century” by Henri Vever.
The earrings’ curious moniker, poissardes (literally, “fish wives”), can be understood through the lens of revolution and patriotism. Since the Middle Ages, French monarchs have granted destitute women the privilege to sell fish and other goods at certain Parisian markets. Fish was especially crucial to the ritualized diet of Catholic France during Lent and other fasting seasons, during which meat and poultry were prohibited (but fish allowed). These poissarde ‘fish wives’ became a significant political force, travelling twice a year to meet with the king at Versailles, and appearing on special occasions such as royal marriages or births. In 1787, when the poissardes boycotted festivities on the eve of the Assumption, this absence generated great anxiety at court. Just two years later, on 5 October 1789, outraged by the price and scarcity of bread, the poissardes marched on Versaille, drawing allies from liberal revolutionaries and forcing the king, his family, and most of the French Assembly to return with them to Paris. This Women’s March on Versaille (as the incident came to be known) proved to be a seminal event of the French Revolution.
Traditionally, poissarde women did wear rather bulky-looking earrings of polished mussel shells, which functioned as identity markers, but these bear little resemblance to early 19th c. ‘poissardes’ hoops, which are more inline with light and airy Neoclassical fashions of the day. Bejeweled ostentation was dangerous during the Revolutionary era, and in poor taste during the Napoleonic, when the nation suffered a war-induced gold scarcity. Like other jewels of the early 19th c., ‘poissardes’ earrings were designed to be sparing in both materials and pomposity, their name a nod to the nation’s revolutionary past.
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