Headband

The English architect A.W.N. Pugin designed only a small amount of jewellery. This headband is part of a larger parure (set) of jewels in the Gothic style. It is inspired by medieval ecclesiastical decoration and bears the inscription 'CHRISTI CRUX EST MEA LUX' (Christ's cross is my [guiding] light). Pugin designed it for the lady he proposed to make his third wife. The marriage did not take place. In 1848, he met and married Jane Knill and gave her the parure. In 1851 the complete parure was shown at the Great Exhibition in London as part of the Medieval Court.