The Russellville Democrat., 1890-01-09
BRACELETS IN HISTORY.
One of the First and Most Popular Forms
 of Human Adornment.

of Human Adornment.
 The history of the bracelet is chap ter of the history of coquetry. It is one of the most ancient of jewels. Among the lsraelites the gold bracelet was used alike by the two sexes; when Juda en- counters Thamar the latter asks in ex- change of favors his staff, his ring and bis bracelet. When Saul had perished by his own sword warrior dispoils him of the bracelets with which his arms | were covered. For the construction of the tabernacle" it is said in Exodus, both men and women offered their jew elry, among which were quantities of rich bracelets"
 The Greeks and Romans also wore bacelets. After time the latter ab- stained from wearing them daily; they were conferred as a mark of distinction, as souvenir of some great act, and the possessor guarded them consequently as glorious decorations, and contented him. self with suspending them upon his breast on days of ceremony and tri- umph, in t-e same manner as General to-day wears his orders and insignias.
 In this manner the bracelet became the insignia of the warrior The plebeian classes, dancing girls and others, wore them around the wrists and ankles. The Gauls were also great lovers of the bracelet. At Pont- Audemer is to be seen a magnificent gold bijou of this kind, very finely worked. It is attrib- uted to the first part of the reign of the Merovingians.
 At the commencement of the sixth century no trace is found of the bracelet in France. A revolution has been effected in wearing apparel as well as in morals. Ladies wrists are ornamented with large, colored silk cuffs, em- broidered with gold and pearls. This fashion ends with the Carloyingians. When was the time that fashions pre- vailed longer than one dynasty? Later on, ladies wore tight and buttoned sleeves terminating at the wrist; in the twelfth century, Jean de Garlande speci- fies the works made by goldsmitbs
 hanaps Qarge cups) of gold and silver, necklaces, pins, knots and rings but nothing is said of bracelets. Finally, 'smanacles" were used; they were sort of bracelet composed of piece of stuff upon which jewels were sewn, until
 finally, in the last half of the fourteenth century, the true metal bracelet ap- peared. It seems that it was worn by gentlemen, although secretly, as kind of VOW, a badge of servitude which they pledged to the lady of their thoughts.
 The history of Jehan de Saintre,
 
 Chamberlain of King Charles VI, and of the Lady des Bellies Cousines bears witness to this. When Jehan de Saintre VOWS eternal fidelity to his lady, she de- mands of him to constantly wear an emblem of attachment ''On the first day of May, which will be tomorrow, she tells him, you will place a gold bracelet of some kind or other on your left arm, and wear it for a year" Next day he comes with the bracelet which he is to wear, and the lady herself puts it on. From about that time this piece of jewelry has been called bracelet"
 From about the middle of the fifteenth century the bracelet became distinctive piece of ornament among the French ladies. At the time of the ''Directoire, the women who had adopted the fashion of wearing robe la Romaine orna- mented their arms with six bracelets, three on each arm-one high up, an other above the elbow, the third at the wrist This is not all, however; they also wore rings on all their fingers, in cluding the thumb; encircled their waist with large sheet as bolt, and wore large hoops in their ears.
 About 1880 bracelets assumed great importance, and ranked even with liter ature and painting; mother words, they became romantic" Although it may appear rather bombastic to assign so high place to a piece of jewelry, never theless, nothing will qualify so well the artistic tendencies in this direction of the goldsmiths of that epoch. Brace lets appeared on the arms of ladies, composed entirely of pointed arches, in tho midst of which ironclad warriors kept watch and ward. It is easy to inn agine the enthusiasm with which they were received, being so well in keeping with the tendency of the people.
 At present, finally, the fancy and caprice ot the day dictate to the ieweler the shape, either nev or copied from former ages, to be given to the bracelets; sometimes a serpent twisting itself around the wrist, gold hoops with long jewel, chain, etc. The shapes vary to the infinite at present, and many of them are due to the ingenuity of our jewelry designs. ns.--jewelers Circular.