Pteridomania, or fern fever, was the Victorian craze for ferns. The fern motif was abundant in the decorative arts of the era appearing on pottery, glass, metal, textiles and sculptures. If they could put a fern on it then those Victorians would!

Charles Kingsley wrote in his book Glaucus or Wonders of the Shore (1855) ‘Your daughters, perhaps, have been seized with the prevailing Pteridomania and are collecting and buying ferns’. And that ‘you cannot deny that they find enjoyment in it, and are more active, more cheerful, more self-forgetful over it, than they would have been over novels and gossip, crochet or Berlin wool’.

Fern hunting parties became popular, allowing young ladies to get outside in the seemingly innocuous pursuit with less rigid oversight and chaperoning than typically experienced. Such pursuits may have also facilitated the occasional romantic meeting with a similarly fern-impassioned chap. The Victorian equivalent of a quick snog behind the bike sheds?!

Turquoise represents good fortune, prosperity and victory, with legend suggesting it would protect the wearer. It was also thought to promote tranquility and wisdom. Queen Victoria was a fan of the gemstone and through her it also came to symbolise true love.