Winter Goddess Pendant, Sterling Silver, French Art Nouveau Button, Female Profile, Seasons Necklace

There's an aspect to winter that has no real equivalent in the other seasons. It's not a silence exactly, but more like the world holding its breath. Everything that was loud and green and outward has pulled back, turned inward, and faded to chiaroscuro hues. What remains is the underlying structure of bare branches against pale skies, the essential outlines of what was always there but is typically hidden. Winter can be a time of looking inward as well: meditating quietly, sitting comfortably with a warm drink and a great read, or planning, dreaming, and anticipating, during the season that asks you to go quiet and wait.

Winter is shown in profile with her face partially veiled, bare trees rising behind her and chrysanthemums around her. The chrysanthemum is one of the few flowers that blooms in the cold months, and in Victorian and Edwardian floral language, it carried associations with longevity and endurance.  Chrysanthemums bloom when almost nothing else will, late autumn into winter, after the frosts have taken everything softer. By the Victorian period they had become associated with endurance and the persistence of beauty under difficult conditions. In the language of flowers so central to that era, they carried the meaning of cheerfulness in adversity. In East Asian tradition the symbolism runs deeper still: the chrysanthemum is one of the Four Gentlemen of Chinese art, an emblem of nobility and perseverance, and in Japan it became the symbol of the imperial family, the flower that outlasts. The French Art Nouveau movement drew heavily on Japanese aesthetics, and the chrysanthemum was everywhere in that visual world. Their appearance here, flanking a woman who has drawn inward against the cold, is entirely intentional. She's not defeated by winter; instead, she's flowering within it.

This pendant is part of a series of four, each cast from a French Art Nouveau button of the early twentieth century. Spring, Summer, and Autumn are each listed separately in the shop. They can be worn alone or collected over time, one season at a time.

Cast sterling silver, hallmarked Blue Piranha and .925. 

The pendant measures 1¼ inches, or 3.2 cm, long and ¾ inch, or 1.9 cm, wide, including the bail. Weight: 4.5 grams.

Each pendant is available without a chain, so you may use your own if you prefer. If you want to add a chain, I offer different lengths and styles. Every chain comes with a 2-inch extender, so you can vary the length. Please choose your chain from the options at checkout.

Your purchase arrives gift boxed, presented in a soft pouch with a story card.

Good for: the reader who keeps a shelf of mythology and folklore and would know exactly where to put this. The grandmother who raised everyone and rarely gets something that acknowledges what that took. The person who marks time by the seasons, for whom the turns of the wheel deeply resonate.

Questions? Please message me. I'm happy to help.

Spring: 

Summer:

Autumn: