Victorian Hair jewellery

For people in the Civil War and Victorian eras, jewelry made from hair was a way of both mourning and celebrating the lives of their departed loved-ones. In addition to having hairwork commissioned after a person was deceased, many people gave living friends and relatives gifts of jewelry made from their own hair as testament to their bond, or possibly even as an invitation to romance.

The bracelet here was made by contemporary hair artist Lucy Cadwallader, who says it best by noting that this type of ornament was “one of the most personal pieces of jewelry one could bestow upon another. Hair provided an intimate connection between the deceased and the living.”

She also noted on her website that “Upon the death of her beloved Albert in 1861, Queen Victoria was consumed with grief. She mandated that only mourning jewelry and hair jewelry be worn at court. With the onset of the Civil War in 1861, the popularity of hair jewelry grew. Women would wear lockets and brooches with locks of their husband’s hair. Soldiers would often carry with them a watch chain made from their loved one’s hair, close to their heart.”