Postby dognose » Wed Jan 17, 2018 11:09 am
Hi,
Much of these later pieces were not Scottish made. They were a product of the tourist industry. The advent of the railways, the rise of middle class wealth, coupled with Queen Victoria using Balmoral as a summer residence, made Scotland the fashionable place to be from the mid to late 1800's. The locals, of course, took advantage of this summer migration, making and selling a variety of souvenirs. The pebble jewellery was extremely popular, so popular, that local producers could not keep up with the demand for them. It did not take long for the Birmingham manufacturers, and others, to fill the gap in supplies.
Trev.