Lockets

The history of the locket necklace begins in the ancient world, when individuals would wear small pendants or amulets with secret interior compartments containing, at times, secret inscriptions or, at others, various potions. These substances could range from the recuperative, for the medicinal benefit of the wearer, to the poisonous, for self-protection.

Lockets maintained this use throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, with the tiny enclosures being used to secret away such poisons, but they also began to take on less nefarious connotations. British Queen Elizabeth I, for example, popularized the locket in the late 16th century as a means of circulating her portrait (she was rumored to give her likeness away in this format to all who visited her court).

The 19th-century Queen Victoria replaced this regal portrait with an early photograph of her lost Prince Albert following his death in 1861, transforming the locket into a means of mourning and remembrance.

Quick Facts

• A Greek papyrus scroll dating to around 500 A.D. might represent the earliest recorded locket enclosure. Discovered in 2014, the papyrus’ folding pattern suggests it was once neatly tucked away inside of an amulet or pendant and worn in secret
• Some lockets are known as lavalieres, named after 17th century French lady Louise, Duchesse de La Vallière. She wore ostentatious locket pendant necklaces while at court, hence the lending of her name to the style
• The locket necklace was immortalized in the classic Broadway musical, “Annie,” when the little orphan girl gets a locket from Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks