Agate Dirk, probably made by Peter Westren, Edinburgh ca.1858

This silver brooch set with a mosaic of native stones – jasper, bloodstone and agates or ‘pebbles’ – in the shape of a dirk, was probably made by Edinburgh jeweller Peter Westren.  While small, the piece is highly crafted. A complex woven-style arrangement of native stones of the type found in Montrose make up the handle. The removable sheath is made from agate sourced from Burn Anne, and has been polished to curve around the small blade inside. Areas of engraved silver around the top and tip of the sheath mask the seams and joints of the stone and create light and sparkle, drawing the eye from the tip of the dirk through the white translucent areas of agate on the centre of the sheath, right through the handle and up to the crystal sparkling on top.

The firm of Peter Westren specialised in making distinctively Scottish jewellery from native stones at his premises on 19 West Register Street. The brooch was designed for women as a miniature version of the dirk worn by men as part of Highland dress. Objects like these were popular with tourists visiting Scotland, who purchased them as souvenirs. While this piece is of a high quality there were many cheaper copies of these popular ‘novelties’ circulating on the market at this time, prompting jewellers in Scotland to patent their designs. This piece has a registry mark indicating that the design was copyright registered 1858. A year before Westren registered a brooch of native stones in the shape of bagpipes, submitting a design illustration for inclusion in the Board of Trade Design Registers in London.

During the 1860s the firm moved to 11 Hanover Street and then on to 103 Princes Street, a prime location on Edinburgh’s main shopping street. In 1869 Westren placed an advertisement in The Scotsman newspaper notifying customers that he had ‘Just finished’ making a range of ‘ANTIQUE SCOTCH DESIGNS’ set with a variety of Scottish stones (July 30, 1869). The firm continued to specialise in jewellery made from native materials into the twentieth century.