This was also an age of sentiment and Queen Victoria loved jewellery and wore it profusely. She brought the cameo back in style as well as romantic jewellery, containing a lock of a loved one’s hair. It was not considered unnatural for Victoria to wear a Bracelet made from her children’s baby teeth.
Jewellery made from human hair increased in popularity during the Victorian era, and although many might consider jewellery made from hair as morbid, the jewellery made at the time did not necessarily come from deceased loved ones. In fact, a “miniature” trade evolved due to the popularity of hair jewellery. Lockets often had hair in the reverse, but the hair was not simply cut and placed in rather it was woven often in a very attractive design.
To prepare the hair required first boiling it in soda water for 15 minutes, and then dividing it into strands of 20 to 30 hairs each, by length. Businesses even sprung up where it was possible to send the hair to companies that would make a wide variety of items out of it. This became the second largest jewellery industry at one time making hair more valuable than silver per ounce.
There were 4 main styles of hair work design;
Palette work consists of arranging the pieces of hairs into shapes including geometric designs as well as flowers;
Hair flower work resulted in producing 3 dimensional flowers, often resulting in quite large wreaths;
Table work produced items such as bracelets, where the hair was woven using a specially made table with a hole in the centre with weights and ;
Sepia work is also amazing as this method used tiny chopped up hair as embellishments to line drawings or the art was exclusively sketched in hair.
When the hair-work was completed it was sent to the jeweller for the addition of fittings which were commonly gold.
Jewellery made from human hair increased in popularity during the Victorian era, and although many might consider jewellery made from hair as morbid, the jewellery made at the time did not necessarily come from deceased loved ones. In fact, a “miniature” trade evolved due to the popularity of hair jewellery. Lockets often had hair in the reverse, but the hair was not simply cut and placed in rather it was woven often in a very attractive design.
To prepare the hair required first boiling it in soda water for 15 minutes, and then dividing it into strands of 20 to 30 hairs each, by length. Businesses even sprung up where it was possible to send the hair to companies that would make a wide variety of items out of it. This became the second largest jewellery industry at one time making hair more valuable than silver per ounce.
There were 4 main styles of hair work design;
Palette work consists of arranging the pieces of hairs into shapes including geometric designs as well as flowers;
Hair flower work resulted in producing 3 dimensional flowers, often resulting in quite large wreaths;
Table work produced items such as bracelets, where the hair was woven using a specially made table with a hole in the centre with weights and ;
Sepia work is also amazing as this method used tiny chopped up hair as embellishments to line drawings or the art was exclusively sketched in hair.
When the hair-work was completed it was sent to the jeweller for the addition of fittings which were commonly gold.
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