In the beginning, there was the stick pin, a slender needle of wood or metal that held a heavy cloak or cape in place. As centuries passed and other clothing fasteners became available, the stick pin evolved into a flashier, more decorative object we now call a brooch. But in spite of its elevated position as an object of beauty, it never lost its core functionality. Many brooches can still be used as fabric fasteners, taking on additional rules such as reflecting authority or cultural values, serving as a family keepsake, and even signaling the wearer’s mood.

Brooches date back at least 5,000 years, to the Bronze Age, when people kept their garments in place with bronze or iron clasps. They were most often plain objects, but some were decorated with stones, enamel, bone, polished glass and occasionally gold and silver. Archaeologists named these clasps fibulae because their construction was similar to the shape of the fibula, the smaller bone in the lower leg.

Fibulae were classified as having four parts: the body, or plate; the pin, the spring, and the hinge, which works much like the modern safety pin. Although they were more complicated, fibulae were a vast improvement over the ancient stick pin and allowed for more intricate decoration as well. Fibulae designs uncovered by archaeologists include versions that resemble a violin bow, a compact spiral, and also a flat piece shaped in the form of a hand.

The Middle Ages saw the arrival of the button and its crucial counterpart, the buttonhole. This fastening system allowed wearers to close their clothes more firmly and comprehensively. Freed from their baseline function, fibulae began the transformation into the brooch.

Up until the Industrial Age, only the most affluent could afford brooches. The must-have accessory of the early 15th century was a cameo brooch featuring the profile of an ancient philosopher, scholar or royal rendered in cornelian shell, sardonyx, mother-of-pearl and even lava rock. The cameo brooch was a fashion accessory that lasted. Both Empress Josephine of France and Queen Victoria of England adored them. 

A second brooch style that lasted the test of time – from the 14th century to the Edwardian era and beyond – is one that depicts flora and fauna surrounded by a semi-precious stone or many different stones. Ancient Greek or Etruscan imagery was carved into cartouches during the Victorian era, with diamonds playing an important role in their designs. 

After the death of Prince Albert, the mourning brooch gained popularity. They were typically made from onyx or some other black stone and trimmed in gold. Sometimes they contained the hair of a lost loved one. 

Art Nouveau brooch designs reached new creative heights in the hands of French glass master Rene Lalique and American visionary Louis Comfort Tiffany. When Art Deco took its turn in the design spotlight, Louis Cartier produce brooches resembling baskets of fruit in which jewels of  corresponding colors represented apples, oranges and grapes. Another exceptional Art Deco brooch designer, Frenchwoman Suzanne Belperron, produced brooches featuring flora, fauna and insects. 

By the mid-20th century, impressionist painter Salvador Dali pushed the brooch to new aesthetic heights with distinctive examples such as a gold bas-relief of Tristan and Isolde in red and clear enamel. Alexander Calder and Man Ray contributed brooches that featured highly geometric or abstract styles. Today, top-flight artisans continue to envision their own takes on the time-honored brooch with pieces that seem more like art than jewelry. Even the ancient stick pin has been revived and reimagined. 

Brooches are, of course, made to be worn. It’s no surprise, then, that many collectors view them as personal statements. One of the most prominent brooch collectors is former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. She has amassed more than 200 brooches in a collection that was comprehensive enough to sustain a 2010 exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute titled “Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection.”

As the top diplomat and usually the only woman in high-level international negotiations, Albright frequently used her brooches to convey messages. In the run-up to the show, she recalled in an interview with Smithsonian Magazine, “I had an arrow pin that looked like a missile, and when we were negotiating the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Russians, the Russian foreign minister asked, ‘Is that one of your missile interceptors you’re wearing?’ And I responded, ‘Yes. We make them very small. Let’s negotiate.’”

While they haven’t yet enthralled younger generations as they did Secretary Albright and Queen Elizabeth II of England, brooches provide both designers and jewelry fans an excellent canvas for expressing an idea or mood as the perfect finishing touch to an outfit. Albright has said that her choice of brooch broadcasts “… what I’m feeling like on a given day or where I’m going. But mostly it’s fun. It’s just a good way to get started.”

Africans have valued cowrie-shell and bone beads since well before written history. Tribes eagerly accepted the sleek, shiny glass beads that 15th-century European traders offered in exchange for commodities such as salt, gold, palm oil or ivory. 

Because trade beads were typically produced on demand to suit the tastes of those on the receiving end, their designs varied from village to village. And since their production numbers were in the thousands, it can be difficult to link specific ones to particular African regions. One exception is the large, round, chunky variety known as “Dutch Dogons,” which were produced in the Netherlands or Germany during the 19th century. They have been found in vast quantities in central Mali, home of the Dogon tribespeople. Most are bright cobalt blue, while others are brown, black, or white. 

Thousands upon thousands of African trade beads were also produced in Venice and Murano, Italy. Doughnut and pineapple-shape glass chevrons, which are the most common, feature characteristic layering produced by winding multiple molten colored glass rods around hollow canes. This resulted in a layered stripe or ornamental rosetta-star pattern, usually in combinations of red, white, and blue. Deep green chevron beads, known as “watermelons,” feature delicate white, green, and red stripes. 

Bi-conical king chevrons, highly favored by tribal chiefs, do not depict rosettas. Instead, they display characteristic horizontal stripes produced by winding molten yellow, black, and green glass threads around long, thin central rods, then shaping them. 

Spherical French cross beads, also known as “Bedoums,” range from 5mm to more than 12mm (roughly a quarter to a half-inch) in size. As with king chevrons, they were created by winding molten glass around metal cores. Most feature thin, colorful crosses or trailed designs applied by hand. Because these beads were produced in limited numbers, many Africans, particularly those in central Mali and along the coast of West African, found them desirable. 

Venetian skunk beads, on the other hand, were traded along the coast of East Africa. As merchants ventured inland in search of additional resources, these distinctive red, black, or white dotted pieces, also known as “eye beads,” eventually found their way to Mali. 

Throughout Africa, Venetian millefiori, or “thousand flower” beads, were the most prized of all. They featured tiny floral patterns created by arranging colorful glass threads in hollow glass rods that were fused, then drawn thin. After slicing these rods into tiny, slender, cross-sectional round discs, each disc was shaped around a metal core and fired. 

During the mid-1800s, large, luminous moon beads, likely invented in Murano, appeared on select sample cards used by European bead manufacturers to market their wares. These beads are often associated with the Yoruba people of present-day Nigeria, who believed that the moon held spiritual significance. 

From the 19th century on, enormous numbers of African trade beads were produced in Bohemia. Most were inspired by so-called “bead researchers” who, after consulting with merchants across Europe, brought sketches of popular designs to Bohemian glass manufacturers. Though most of their beads were relatively simple, innovative technical strides allowed uniform, high-quality, speedy production. 

Bohemian Mali wedding beads, popular among the Fulani people, often resembled pineapples, hourglasses or lightbulbs. Their bulbous shapes, which symbolized fertility in Mali culture, sparked a tradition of fathers giving them to daughters just before a wedding. The beads were available in single opaque shades as well as flecked and striped varieties. 

Round or oval Bohemian colodontes, also known as “hummingbird egg” or “pigeon egg” beads, resemble smooth, round, glossy eggs like those laid by small birds. They have been found not only in Mali, but also along the West African coast. 

As African trade beads passed from hand to hand and continent to continent, many suffered fading, pitting, chipping, and other signs of excessive use. Yet today, each is a poignant, visually striking and highly collectible piece of history.