Victorian Aesthetic Movement Perched Sparrow Locket

Today they are known as the most common bird in the world, but that wasn't always the case. Originating in parts of Asia, North Africa and the Middle East, house sparrows were introduced in Britain in the mid-1800s. A few decades later, these tiny birds were imported to the United States with the hopes to establish wildlife that was familiar to European immigrants. However, with no natural predator, it didn't take long for the house sparrow population to spiral out of control causing farmers and horticulturalists to label them as pests and flying rats. While sparrows may have been loathed by some, the nature-loving Victorians of the later Aesthetic Movement revered them so much so that they began incorporating their likeness in jewelry form. To many Victorians, birds represented freedom and the soul. The sparrow, in particular, was regarded as a symbolic guide to help an individual find his or her way along the path of life. It was believed that if you were lost, the sparrow would lea