Two metal sweetheart brooches in form of slouch hats containing soldier portraits

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c. 1915

Overview

Two commercially produced sweetheart brooches in the form of Australian Imperial Force slouch hats, containing portraits of World War One soldiers.
Each slouch hat is suspended by a metal chain from a rectangular bar with a central Rising Sun motif which has a brooch pin attachment. When the brooch is worn, the hat side faces outwards, with the portrait protected underneath.
The slouch hat has one side turned up (as traditionally worn) which has a central depiction of another Rising Sun badge.
The central area of the underside is raised to provide a circular frame to which to insert the photograph. There is a metal wire around the edge holding the portrait in place and it is covered by a thin piece of celluloid.
Both soldiers are wearing their slouch hats with the left side upturned . The first has his chin strap on top of his chin and is closer up than the second soldier whose chin strap is beneath his chin and whose shoulders are visible.
The slouch hats are painted gold, some of which is wearing off to reveal the base metal. There are no maker's marks.

Historical information

The identity of the soldiers in the brooches is unknown. Photo lockets, pendants and sweetheart brooches were very popular during wartime and there are a large number of them in the collection.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-119-RoW00567

Item type

Themes

Social History
War and Conflict
War and Conflict > World War 1

Material