Jewellery, Watches, Antiquities and Objects of Vertu

A Georgian ‘witch’s heart’ brooch, set with cushion-cut garnets, seed pearls and a round-cut emerald, gold mounted, length 28mm. £80-£120

The term ‘witch’s heart’ originates from early times, originally worn as an amulet to protect against evil eyes and from witches sealing milk or harming newborn babies. In Scottish culture it is called the ‘luckenbooth’ heart, and in the 18th century, the token implied that the giver had been ‘bewitched to fall in love with the recipient’.