An Eye to Remember

From time to time I stumble across a beautiful antique brooch that has the image of an eye in the center. They were created to honor a lover's eye and were popular for a short time at the end of the eighteenth century and beginning of the nineteenth century. Toward the end of their popularity they began to memorialize a love one who had died. If the person had died, the eye was often surrounded by pearls or included a tear. The pearls symbolized tears. If you would like to read more about this type of jewelry, I suggest you read this concise article, Lover's Eye Miniature, from the Antique Jewelry University.

source: Antique Jewelry University

source: Antique Jewelry University

I think we need to bring back this way of memorializing a loved one don't you? I, of course, jumped over to Etsy to see what artists might be doing and was immediately rewarded. 

There are a few shops doing custom paintings from photos of an eye that you send to them. 

Keelhauled

ADoubleGrace

But, there a many shops selling images of eyes from famous people or just made up eyes that I love too. Here are some of my favorites.

TheLittleBeader

AlexandraRed

OmarinaOnEtsy

MommysMoon

Zooey

You can also find some antique eye brooches on Easy that are stunning and cost quite a bit more.

MercurysMoon

MercurysMoon

This is just a small selection of what I was able to find. Many of the artists above specialize in eye jewelry so they have many more pieces available. Aren't they beautiful?