Antique Victorian circa 1890's Vulcanite and hand painted porcelain pendant. The very detailed hand painted portrait featuring a Tyrolean Boy with Green hat.

Generous in size Antique Victorian circa 1890's Vulcanite and hand painted porcelain pendant.
The very detailed hand painted portrait featuring a Tyrolean Boy with Green hat.

These hand painted plaques were made in Austria and sent to England, to be mounted in jewelry. They are a young Tyrolean boy, but are also called the "vagabond boy", "gypsy boy", 'Tyrolean boy", or "green boy".

The Vagabond or Gypsy Boy was a very popular romantic image by the 1860's, his story likely was made popular by Charles Dickens story of Oliver Twist. A vagabond in Victorian England was a wanderer or a tramp. This was the time of poor houses and although sad, this was a romantic tale indeed. You see brooches, pendants, earrings, and even pieces of bracelets with this painted motif in all types of settings from Whitby Jet to gold. 

Vulcanite is a rubber product used in jewelry production during the Victorian era. Like several other black substances, it was employed to simulate jet, a more expensive and fragile material. Many originally black vulcanite jewelry pieces have oxidized to a brown or brown-green coloring over time.

Note : One small chip on the rim of the Vulcanite border , not noticeable at all.

*Chain not included"

Measurements :The Vulcanite pendant measures 5.1cm x 3.9cm excluding the bail.The Oval shaped hand painted portrait measures 3.4cm x 2.7cm.Pendant with a total weight of 12.9grams.