I picked a bunch of flowers from my garden the other day: I just love the colours, so zingy and bright this time of year.
A rainbow of zing: red Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’, orange self-sown Crocosmia, yellow Inula hookeri, and purple Lythrum salicaria, our native Purple loosestrife.
And then my lovely and clever friend Sam gave me a bunch of roses for no reason other than she saw them and knows orange is my favourite colour. What a darling and aren’t they gorgeous?
Sunshine in a vase!
Enamel daisy brooch by the Royal Jeweller to the Danish court, Anton Michelsen. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).
On 16 April 1940, Princess Margrethe of Denmark was born. She was born in troubled times. A mere seven days before her birth, her country had been invaded by Nazi Germany.
To celebrate the Princess’s birth, jewellers in Denmark produced daisy jewellery: ‘marguerit’ is the Danish for daisy, so this made a nice play on her name. Daisy jewellery was produced in various forms, including brooches, pendants, bracelets, earrings and necklaces, all in gold-washed sterling silver and white enamel. It became immediately popular, not just as a mark of respect for the monarchy but also, and perhaps more importantly, as a symbol of national resistance against the Nazis. To wear a piece of daisy jewellery was to give a tacit ‘up yours’ to the occupying forces.
Anton Michelsen daisy clip on earrings For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).
Danish white enamel daisy ring. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).
Anton Michelsen daisy bar brooch, rare, for sale at Inglenookery on Etsy. Perhaps one of the prettiest possible forms of passive resistance? (NOW SOLD).
The daisy jewellery was initially made by several firms of silversmiths in Denmark, with that of Anton Michelsen (1809-1877) being the most famous. The firm that bore Michelsen’s name was founded in 1841 and by 1848 Michelsen had become the Jeweller to the Royal Danish Court. The firm was based in Copenhagen. Other firms making daisy jewellery in the wartime period included Viggo Pedersen and Bernhard Hertz. Those making them shortly after the war included Hans Hansen and Aarre & Krogh Eftf.
Aarre Krogh & Eftf daisy clip on earrings, for sale at Inglenookery on Etsy. (NOW SOLD).
The earliest daisy brooches fasten with a ‘C’ catch or a safety pin-type catch (rollover catches were used on the later brooches). The first pieces of jewellery were produced for domestic consumption only so were generally marked just with ‘925 S’ (referring to the silver purity of 925 parts per 1000, ie sterling silver), whereas the later ones also had ‘DENMARK’ and/or ‘STERLING’, indicating they were intended for the international as well as the domestic market.
Anton Michelsen three daisy brooch, sold by Inglenookery on Etsy. (NOW SOLD).
Large daisy clipon earrings by Anton Michelsen. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).
Daisy jewellery was so popular and struck such a chord with Danes that it was made through the postwar period and continues to be made to this day. The famous silversmith company of Georg Jensen later took over the firm of A. Michelsen, and continued to make daisy jewellery. Recently they have produced jewellery based on the earliest Michelsen designs.
Although Denmark does not have an official floral emblem, in 1980 the daisy won an unofficial competition and was voted the ‘unofficial official’ flower of Denmark, no doubt in part because of the fondness the Danes have towards this flower and all it represents.
And little Princess Margrethe, who was born as Nazi tanks rolled across her country? She ascended the Danish throne in 1972 and as Queen Margrethe II, still rules today as the sovereign of Denmark.
So to wear or own an item of Danish daisy jewellery is to possess not only a beautiful piece of personal adornment, but also a moving little piece of history.
Daisies (Bellis perennis) growing in Wiltshire, May 2014.
Anton Michelsen daisy brooch, for sale at Inglenookery on Etsy. (NOW SOLD).
We had a very long-awaited arrival in our garden at the beginning of May, and she caused great excitement (well, for me! I’m easily pleased).
About eight years ago I came home from my favourite local plant nursery with a small plant of a species paeony, Paeonia daurica subsp. mlokosewitschii. You won’t be surprised that its name is such a mouthful that it has a nickname: Molly the Witch. Much easier to say (unless you speak Polish – its discoverer was the Polish botanist, Ludwik Mlokosiewicz). I’d seen photos of this paeony in gardening magazines and slavered and added it to my wish list. It has the most beautiful pale lemon yellow blossoms, and is among the earliest of all the paeonies to come into flower.
So I waited for the flowers. And waited. And waited. It probably didn’t help that I had the plant in a smallish pot, so after a few years I potted her up. And waited. And waited. And then, this spring, in amongst the beautiful deep red leaf spikes, I saw a small bud. Just the one, but that was more than enough! I watched it like a hawk as the bud fattened and grew.
On May Day (1 May) she looked like this, full of promise:
Molly the Witch in bud (Paeonia daurica subsp. mlokosewitschii).
and she stayed tantalisingly closed like that for a couple of days. On 3 May she finally opened:
Molly open
I am so happy! She has finished flowering now, but I am hopeful that if I feed her and cosset her, next year I might get more. Fingers crossed.
As The Mead Nursery says about her: definitely worth the wait!