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| A gold brooch, extremely detailed fashioned into a feather like finish |
Now I had never heard of this custom until this project; I actually stumbled upon it whilst researching old Victorian photographs for hair. Yes its a real thing; theres something much like the post-mortem photos that is almost 'creepy' or even deeply sad about the art yet when actually seen the amount of work and dedication that have gone into these mementos for the family of the deiced (was extremely common) or person is inspiring. For many of the brooches that I researched much like the one above the amount of details that have gone into the perfect little thing is impressive. The fact you can see all the different shadings in the one person hair brooches of the actual person that the brooch is dedicated to is interesting too.
Hairwork is a craft that can be intertwined within jewellery such as brooches or pendants; the hair was usually given to the craftsmen of a hair jewellery workshop to create a sentimental creation for a deiced family member. Though sometimes buyers would just pay a poor person for some hair as they wanted it as a fashionable accessory though this was less common due to people wanting it for their special interests from family, with the hair being brought in and not dedicated to someone sometimes meant that the hair was from a few different people so were different shades to add to the patterning. Like autographs are fans today people also desired to wear the hair of famous people dead or alive
Some harrow pieces were displayed not as jewellery but within photo frames for display purposes.
The final result for many produced were delicate items that were uniquely special to each client.
The weaths were created using a thin wire to create a shape or frame, then the rest would be created by looping the hair into the structure.
Hairwork maybe unusual though why? when we have little children its not unusual to cut a lock of their hair and keep it in a locket. We were human hair extensions onto out own hair the whereabouts of the owner we have no clue yet we still stick/glue/clip the hair onto our heads. This is a sentimental and beauty heirloom that descendants can keep forever.
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| A Hairwork wealth in a frame |
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| Extremely gothic with the black enamel against the blonde plaiting |
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