Brooch, containing a graveyard scene with trees, flowers, a pond and a tomb, made up from hair, mounted in an oval metal frame and covered with glass, fastener missing
The scene of the brooch is made from human hair. It shows a graveyard scene with a weeping willow tree overhanging a gravestone inscribed: ‘IN MEMORY OF A.G.’ Jewellery such as this is called memento mori, a reminder of death. This is because the hair is probably from a departed loved one.
Such ‘hairwork’ was a popular craft and pastime in 18th and 19th century Europe. Women in Victorian Britain were permitted to wear hairwork jewellery in the ‘second stage’ of mourning. This began a year and a day after the loved one’s death.
Details
- Category:
- Wellcome (general)
- Collection:
- Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
- Object Number:
- A642442
- Materials:
- metal, glass, paper, cotton wool and hair
- Measurements:
-
length 69 mm
width 52 mm
depth 7 mm
- type:
- human hair, brooch and human remains