Victorian Hair Art

In this blog post we are going to explore the curious presence of human hair art in the Farm House Museum. I am not talking about dust bunnies lurking in dark corners, but actual museum objects that contain human hair. Currently in the library, there is a human hair wreath sitting in a small 6 x10 inch frame. The flower hair wreath consists of a single center stem with side branches leading to flowers and blossoms. It is made completely of human hair, braided and curled to form dainty shapes. The object was donated to the museum from Gertrude Cookingham Smith who stated that the hair belonged to her past family members. To understand why this piece exists we must look back to the traditions of Victorian times. Victorians were known to have an obsession with hair.

Today many people consider “hair art” to be rather creepy, but during Victorian times it was very popular. Hair grooming was highly emphasized, as the idea was to transform the chaotic and wild growth of hair into a well-trimmed and decorative design. This insistence on a fashionable design led to many women using false hair to create more designs for their hair. Fake hair became so popular that shiploads of the commodity were imported to England and hair became one of the most popular topics in fashion magazines of the time. The University Museums’ permanent collection contains over 150 fashion prints from French magazines that illustrate not only the importance of clothing and hats but also the importance of hair styling befitting of high fashion of the Victorian Era. Besides fake hair, Victorians loved to collect and keep all the hair they acquired. Many women would collect their own hair that they cut or brushed out into special jars. Often once the container became full, they would send it away to a hair designer to be made into some useful attachment or jewelry.

Hair jewelry became particularly popular during the Victorian Era, especially in association with death. Hair jewelry was most often made from the hair of a deceased loved one. These objects were often a keepsake and seen as a token of remembrance for the person who passed away. Hair could be fashioned into a necklace, bracelet, ring, pair of earrings, a picture or woven into a certain pattern like the flower design seen in the Farm House. Victorians would also wear these hair jewelry pieces as a way of remembering their loved ones during specified mourning periods. An example of a mourning broch is in the permanent collection, although there is likely little to no hair present. The broach is a brass design with a small glass window in the center. Victorians would put the hair of their deceased loved ones inside the glass window for everyone to see. They would then wear the broach around in remembrance.

The idea of hair jewelry became so popular that woman began to take their own hair and make

designs out of it. Hair could be made as a gift, which Queen Victoria popularized when she reportedly presented Empress Eugene of France with a bracelet of her own hair. Soldiers during the Civil War would leave a lock of their hair with their loved ones as a way of remembering them. Due to rising consumerism woman loved to make hair folk crafts and hair wreaths of all kinds to fit the current fashion of the day. All hairwork was created by hand whether by a professional artisan or skilled amateur. Hair art manuals were actually publish specifically for female readership so they could learn the techniques for making hair designs. Hair art became so fashionable that elaborate hair works were shown at the Great Exhibition of 1851. At the Paris Exposition of 1855 a full-length life-size portrait of Queen Victoria made entirely of human hair was displayed. But what actually caused the Victorians to become so obsessed with hair?

Much of this obsession is revealed in the literature of the time. In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens wrote about Lucie Manette and how she was recognized as an angel due to her golden halo of hair which was able to “recall the dead to life” and to “warm and lighten” those around her. Dante Rossetti wrote of a golden haired woman in Lady Lilith who achieved transcendent vitality due to her magic hair. Victorian writers were clearly fascinated by reading woman’s hair and interpreting its meaning. Previously, writers would not go into such detail to describe the texture, color, style and dimensions of the woman’s hair. Preservation of hair tokens and hair memorials was seen as dignified and important. Victorians saw hair as a window into someone’s personality and essence. Obsession with hair is seen as a staple of Victorian culture and there are thousands of examples of hair art today. Even today, the hair jewelry and wreaths of the Victorian Era are highly desirable as collectibles. The hair art at the Farm House Museum reflects the Victorian culture of the time and can teach those who come to the Farm House about the past fashion, rituals, and folk crafts.  As a bonus, most people are creeped out as well!  

                                                          Further Reading

• Bell, C. Jeanenne. Collector’s Encyclopedia of Hairwork Jewelry. (1998).
• Campbell, Mark. Kliot, Jules and Caethe (eds). Art of Hairwork: Hair Braiding and Jewelry of Sentiment. (1996) {This republication of Mark Campbell’s book also includes important supplemental material from Godey’s Lady’s Book}
• Sheumaker, Helen. Love Entwined: The Curious History of Hairwork in America. (2007).

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