Victorian Era Fan Guide

A stick pin in the form of a skull made by the jeweller Auguste-Germain Cadet-Picard which was exhibited at the Paris International Exposition of 1867. The pin is made of gold and enamel with small diamonds for the eyes and contains electric terminals which, when connected to a battery hidden in the wearer’s pocket, cause the eyes to roll and the jaws to snap. At the Exposition Picard exhibited many types of jewellery with moving parts powered by electricity which attracted a lot of attention. The report on the Exposition written by the British Royal Commission describes Picard’s display, remarking on the “ingeniously-modelled and delicately wrought and enamelled little objects, to some of which a grotesque life is imparted by a voltaic arrangement concealed in a portable form of galvanic cell”.