Jewellery, badges and medals with a message

The wearing of jewellery answers two basic human urges: to decorate and to communicate. This display examines some of the statements people make about themselves by wearing badges, buttons, beads, bangles and brooches.

Use the navigation above or below to take you to the five themed cases of the exhibition.

I Belong: the membership of clubs and societies and support of causes
I Mourn: grief and remembrance
I Was There: tourism and mementos of war
I Believe: faith, doubt and conviction
I Wear: fashionable statements

This link will take you to a list of all the objects incuded in the exhibition.

These exhibits have been drawn mainly from Brighton & Hove Museums' Decorative Arts collection, but also from the Social History holdings and the contents of Preston Manor. We are grateful to Sussex University Library Special Collections Department for providing the opportunity to bring these objects and ideas together.