I’ve always had a weakness for antique sentimental jewelry, and this bracelet definitely made my heart flutter. What could be more sentimental than a bracelet embellished with romantic symbols, a gift from a young groom to a bride around the time of their wedding?
Americans might have parted politically with Great Britain after the Revolution, but they still continued to look to London in matters of taste. Towards the end of the 18thc, fashionable jewelry often included small miniatures, painted in sepia on wafers of ivory. While many of these miniature paintings were memorial pieces, worn as mourning, others were sentimental tokens to be exchanged between lovers and friends. The design motifs were classically inspired, with urns, columns, willows, and often graceful women wearing either ancient dress, or the drifting white cotton gowns newly in vogue.
This bracelet features a wealth of romantic symbols: two winged cherubs carry entwined wreathes in honor of Hymen, the Greek god of marriage, while Cupid, the impish god of desire, stands below with his own attributes, a bow and arrow and a flaming torch of eternal love. There are also two pairs of doves or love-birds, sitting side by side, and a ribbon banner that proclaims “Cupid crowns/Hymen joins”. In other words, Cupid’s darts may inspire that flaming love, but Hymen makes sure you put a ring on it.
Tiny pearls surround the miniature, which is set into the clasp. The bracelet itself is made of gold, with a safety chain to prevent its loss - a wise precaution, considering that this must have been a costly piece of jewelry indeed. The miniature and the bracelet are considered to be the work of Irish artist and goldsmith John Ramage (c1748-1802). Like other artists in pursuit of sitters, Ramage had immigrated to the American colonies on the eve of the Revolution, following his Loyalist patrons first from Boston to Canada, and then to British-occupied New York City, where he remained after the war. His delicate and refined miniature portraits, elegantly presented in gold bracelets and brooches, made him a favorite with wealthy New Yorkers. His most famous sitter was newly-elected President George Washington, whose likeness was worn by his wife Martha.
The interior of this bracelet’s clasp, right, is engraved with a pair of initials - “D.T.-B. and C.S./1785”. Cornelia Stuyvesant (c1765-1825) and Dirck Ten Broeck (1765-1833) were both members of elite New York families with Dutch heritage; she was a descendant of Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch governor of New Netherlands, while he was the grandson of Stephen Van Rensselaer I, the 7th Patroon and 4th Lord of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck, and one of the wealthiest landowners in America. Cornelia and Dirck were both around twenty when they married on September 6, 1785, and while it’s certain the families approved of their well-connected union, it was also considered a love match. In the course of their long marriage, Cornelia gave birth to a dozen children who were baptized (only four of whom survived to adulthood) as well as several others who were stillborn.
At around the same time, Dirck Ten Broeck also sat for a miniature portrait, below left, by John Ramage. The portrait matched the wedding miniature, and was similarly engraved on the reverse and encircled with the same tiny pearls. While the portrait doesn’t have the same gold bracelet band, the gold loops on the back indicate that it would have been worn as a slide on a silk or velvet ribbon. In the fashion of the day, Cornelia likely would have worn them together, one on each wrist, as double proof of her love for her new husband.
The Ten Broecks would have moved in the same social circles in New York as Eliza and Alexander Hamilton and Aaron and Theodosia Burr. Not only were the Ten Broecks and the Hamiltons related by marriage, but Dirck had also served as a clerk in Alexander’s law office. In the small world of New York law, the paths of the three lawyers - Ten Broeck, Hamilton, and Burr - would have crossed repeatedly in the courts in Albany and in New York City, and in state and national politics as well.
On July 11, 1804, Dirck Ten Broeck was anticipating a midday meal and legal consultation with his old mentor and friend Alexander Hamilton, unaware that Alexander had another appointment scheduled for earlier that same day in New Jersey. By the time that Dirck arrived at Alexander’s office, the duel between the Alexander and Aaron Burr had already taken place, and Alexander was slowly dying of his wound in the nearby home of William Bayard, Jr.
Both the bracelet and the miniature are on display in the "Schuyler Sisters & Their Circle" exhibition (on display through December 29, 2019 at the Albany Institute of History & Art in Albany, NY.
Top: Bracelet, attributed to John Ramage, 1785, Albany Institute of History and Art. Photograph ©2019 Susan Holloway Scott.
Right: Interior, Bracelet, attributed to John Ramage, 1785, Albany Institute of History and Art. Photograph courtesy of AIHA.
Lower left: Dirck Ten Broeck by John Ramage, 1785, Albany Institute of History and Art. Photograph ©2019 Susan Holloway Scott.
Read more about Alexander and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton in my historical novel I, Eliza Hamilton; order here. My latest historical novel, The Secret Wife of Aaron Burr, is now available everywhere. Order here.