To the modern observer, the idea of wearing jewelry woven from the hair of a deceased loved one might seem macabre, unsettling, or even morbid. However, in the 19th century, particularly during the Victorian era, "hairwork" was a deeply revered, highly sentimental, and profoundly beautiful manifestation of grief. Far from being a creepy fascination with death, this aesthetic tradition was a poignant way to maintain a tangible, physical connection to those who had passed away.
Here is a detailed exploration of the 19th-century tradition of mourning hair jewelry.
The Cultural Context: The Victorian Way of Death
To understand hairwork, one must understand the 19th-century relationship with death. Mortality rates were incredibly high due to diseases like cholera, typhus, and tuberculosis, as well as high rates of infant and maternal mortality. Death was not hidden away in hospitals; it happened in the home.
This culture of mourning reached its zenith with Britain’s Queen Victoria. When her beloved husband, Prince Albert, died in 1861, Victoria plunged into a state of perpetual mourning that lasted until her own death in 1901. She famously wore a locket containing Albert’s hair. Because the Queen was the ultimate trendsetter, her subjects—and people across Europe and America—adopted her stringent, highly codified rules of mourning, which dictated everything from clothing to social behaviors and, naturally, jewelry.
The Symbolism of Hair
Hair possesses a unique biological property: it does not decay. Long after flesh has returned to dust, hair remains perfectly intact, retaining the exact color, texture, and curl it had in life.
For the Victorians, hair was the ultimate keepsake. It was considered a literal piece of the person’s essence, containing their vital energy. By taking a lock of a deceased loved one's hair and transforming it into something beautiful, the mourner was creating a "memento" (a remembrance). It transformed the medieval concept of memento mori ("remember you must die") into a more romanticized memento amore ("remember love").
Techniques and Craftsmanship
The process of turning human hair into jewelry was highly specialized and incredibly intricate. Hair had to be boiled in water and borax to strip it of oils, then dried and sorted by length. There were two primary methods of creating hairwork:
1. Palette Work: In this method, the hair was laid flat on a "palette." Artisans would use gums and adhesives to glue the hair down, sometimes chopping it into fine, dust-like particles to mix with paint, or cutting it into delicate strips. These strips were arranged to form elaborate, miniature scenes under glass—most commonly weeping willow trees, mourning figures, urns, or intricate floral bouquets. These were usually set into brooches, pendants, or rings.
2. Table Work (Woven Hair): This is the technique where jewelry was woven almost entirely out of hair. It required a specialized braiding table with a hole in the center. The hair was divided into dozens of strands, each tied to a lead weight or bobbin to maintain tension. The weaver would then braid the hair over a wire or wooden mold, creating intricate, three-dimensional geometric patterns, hollow tubes, and tight braids.
Once woven, the hair was boiled again to set the shape, slipped off the mold, and fitted with gold or pinchbeck (a brass alloy mimicking gold) clasps, caps, and hinges. The result was startlingly durable: a woven hair chain could be as strong as a rope.
From Professionals to the Parlor
Initially, hairwork was the domain of professional jewelers. However, a major issue of trust arose. Mourners became paranoid that the hair returned to them in a finished piece of jewelry was not actually the hair of their loved one, but rather the hair of a stranger or even a horse, substituted by an unscrupulous jeweler to make the weaving easier.
Because of this anxiety, hairwork transitioned into a domestic craft. By the 1850s, women’s magazines (like Godey’s Lady’s Book) began publishing patterns for hair weaving. Books like Mark Campbell’s 1867 Self-Instructor in the Art of Hair Work provided step-by-step instructions. Weaving hair became a respectable parlor hobby for middle-class women, ensuring that the hair of their deceased loved ones was treated with the exact devotion and reverence it deserved.
Aesthetics and Accoutrements
Hair jewelry was rarely worn in isolation; it was integrated into the wider aesthetic of mourning dress. Hair woven into thick bands was used for bracelets. Long, hollow braids of hair were used as pocket-watch chains (fobs) by men.
The metalwork accompanying the hair was deeply symbolic. It was often set in black enamel or paired with jet (fossilized wood that polishes to a deep black). Pearls were frequently incorporated into the designs, explicitly chosen because they represented teardrops.
The Decline of the Tradition
The tradition of hairwork began to fade at the dawn of the 20th century, completely dying out by the end of World War I. Several factors contributed to its demise:
- The Rise of Photography: As photography became cheaper and more accessible, families no longer needed a physical piece of a body to remember what a person looked like; they could simply look at a photograph.
- Changing Views on Death: The staggering, mechanized slaughter of World War I changed how society processed death. It shifted from an individualized, romanticized domestic ritual to a collective trauma. Elaborate mourning rituals suddenly seemed frivolous or inappropriately heavy.
- Germ Theory: As medical science advanced and the public began to understand germs and hygiene, the idea of keeping human remains in the parlor or wearing them on the body became deeply unappealing.
Legacy
Today, antique mourning hairwork is highly sought after by collectors and museums. While it may evoke a shudder in those unfamiliar with the context, examining a 150-year-old beautifully woven hair bracelet reveals something profoundly human. It is a testament to the universal agony of grief and the desperate, loving desire to hold onto a physical fragment of someone who is gone forever.