Antique jewelry glossary

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Pigeon

See our: Pigeon jewelry.

In Victorian slang the pigeon was the 'sucker', although in more poetic terms it is also a symbol of love. Its shy habits explain both these attributions. A pair of pigeons make more explicit the love symbol, which is common to such other birds as ducks, kingfishers and phoenixes. In the pigeon's case, there is the added factor of the male brooding the eggs.

In Ancient China the basic pattern of the seasons, the alternation of YIN AND YANG, was expressed by the transformation of pigeon to hawk and of hawk back to pigeon. The former became a symbol of Spring, reappearing after the vernal equinox.

In Northern Algeria pigeons flutter round the tomb of the Muslim saint who protects the Kabyle village; however, 'elsewhere they are regarded as birds of ill omen since their cooing is the groans of souls in torment'.