Thursday, April 23, 2015

Mournful Remembrances

Chronica Domus
An early nineteenth century mourning scene composed entirely of human hair
Photo: Chronica Domus


During the early days of this blog, February 2014 to be exact, I wrote about a piece of mourning art that graces the walls of our drawing room.  You can read that essay, titled Mourning Howard, here. At that time, I had every intention of writing about some of the other pieces of mourning art in our collection in a series of posts.  For some reason or other, I never quite got my act together, until today that is.

Memorializing the dead, whether in the form of jewelry (rings, brooches, pendants), or artwork (embroidery samplers or theorems), was at the height of its popularity during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the period to which my husband and I have chosen to focus our collecting interest. In the days predating the advent of photography, commissioning a piece of mourning hair work was a far less costly alternative than an oil portrait of one's loved one. Naturally, this greatly contributed to the art form's popularity.

As peculiar as this may sound, the diminutive four inch diameter composition (frame included) shown above is formed entirely of human hair.  Yes, you did read that correctly, human hair. We purchased it from a dealer located on London's Portobello Road, during the Saturday morning market we frequent whenever we find ourselves in London. The person that sold it to us had unearthed it in France, a country famed for producing exquisite mourning hair art.  Mounted in a round ebony wood frame and held under glass with the aid of a brass collar stamped with delicate tracery, it is my favorite piece in our collection. I've yet to see another quite like it on my travels. To the best of my knowledge, I date it to around 1830 or 1840.

Unusually, this is the only piece of mourning art we own that does not show a sentimental dedication to the person being mourned.  Typically, the deceased's initials, and on occasion the year of death, are depicted on a tomb or gravestone.  Another feature that sets this particular piece apart from others in our little horde is that the hair has been collected from several sources.  The norm, of course, was to utilize the deceased's own hair.  As you can see above, the dark strands form an elegant weeping willow tree, a symbol of mourning, which stands in stark contrast to the lighter straw-colored hair of the urn, tomb, and plinth.  Each piece of hair has been skillfully adhered to a thin disc of ivory cut lengthwise from an elephant tusk, a material now rightly made illegal in many countries, but not so at the time of construction.

I've often wondered what it is that makes this elegant and severe study in mourning art so very special, and why it was that multiple sources of hair were utilized in its creation.  Had several members of the same family died together in some tragic set of circumstances, an incurable illness perhaps?  I wonder too if this piece had been created to be used as an example of a hair artist's work, demonstrating his skill to potential patrons, and his artistry and dexterity in pounding, layering, and aligning the fine strands of hair to form a pleasing mourning scene.

Chronica Domus
A grouping of mourning hair art reflected in the small Regency convex mirror that hangs in our vestibule
Photo: Chronica Domus


Whatever its intended purpose, it is of little matter to me for I take great pleasure in its beauty as it hangs, alongside a grouping of other mourning hair art, in our home's vestibule.

If you wish to learn more about the fascinating business of mourning, I highly recommend you visit  Art of Mourning's website for a glimpse into the history and symbolism of mourning.

Do you find this particular art form a little macabre for your tastes, or do you, like us, delight in its sentimental beauty?

26 comments:

  1. Hello CD, I too am fascinated by this memorial art, and your framed example is quite exceptional. A lot of hair jewelery was made as a home craft, and many pieces are sentimental rather than funereal. One often sees framed wreaths made of different colored hair from family members, each section labeled Mother, Aunt Beulah, and so forth. Perhaps your picture was crafted under similar home conditions, as an object of beauty or inducement to serious contemplation, and was not made to memorialize anyone in particular.
    --Jim

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    1. Hello Jim,

      The hair pieces you refer to date to the late Victorian era I believe, and are a little older than the piece I feature in my post today. I don't collect that particular form of hair art, only the little icons similar to today's piece that I show.

      As the scene shows the typical symbols of mourning - the weeping willow and urn - I am convinced it was made as a memento to mark the passing of a loved one. Also, I do not believe it was a homemade piece as the craftsmanship is quite exceptional and refined as far as these things go.

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    2. Hi, I just looked at the picture again enlarged, and the detail and workmanship are really extraordinary. You were lucky to acquire this rare example. --Jim

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    3. Hello Jim,

      I agree with you entirely, we are lucky to have found this little gem to add to our collection.

      I've thought a little more on the mystery of the multi-colored hair strands and I now wonder if the deceased's hair was mixed in with the strands from the person who commissioned it. I'd love to solve this particular hairy mystery. My husband commented that it could have been commissioned by an eccentric old fool to memorialize his calico cat!

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  2. This comment inadvertently appeared under the comments section of Mourning Howard, last year's posting on a piece of mourning art in my collection:

    Coulda shoulda woulda said:

    It's a lovely piece combining both art and history. But human hair? I must have seen these items as I also like to trawl through auction houses and old shops by the M Road as I live not too far from there. I guess I didn't realize. I once did remove a clump of wall that had horse hair but I don't know why I was surprised as it is a sturdy material!

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    1. Naomi,

      I know the area you write of well (I worked close by many moons ago) and yes, I do recall one particular shop having a small display of these mourning hair pieces grouped together in a corner. Now you know of their existence, I would not be surprised if you spot them on a semi-frequent basis.

      Horsehair was often mixed with plaster and used on walls in ye olden days, but finding a clump of it in a wall is most unusual. How thrilling that would have been (at least for me).

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  3. CD,
    I think this is the first time I've heard of mourning art. I may have seen pieces in antique stores or museums, but never knew the history to it. What an interesting collection. I would be wanting to know who died and the circumstances behind the death. Interesting and pretty, a great combination when collecting.
    Enjoy your weekend.
    Karen

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    1. Hello Karen,

      I'm sure you've seen those charming samplers from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century that young girls used to sew to practice their embroidery skills and mark the passing of a loved one. They are very costly if you ever come across them and most beautiful they are too. Those were popular in both America and England. I believe the little mourning hair pieces I collect were made in France so are a little rarer to find here in the United States.

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  4. I grew up with mourning art, as my parents then collected American folk pieces, so I got used to the idea. However, if any of them were made of human hair, nobody told me. Probably just as well!

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    1. I adore those folk art mourning pieces, particularly some of the embroidery samplers and theorems and would love to add some to my little horde.

      The human hair variety of mourning art is a little odd, I'll admit, but the imagery made from this most basic (and lasting) element of the human body is sublime. In years past, giving that special someone a lock of one's hair was one of the highest expressions of love. How terribly romantic! I can see why the mourning hair art evolved if you consider this.

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    2. I agree. My squeamishness is totally era-driven. And my parents' pieces were some samplers but also some drawings? Stencils, essentially?

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    3. Oh, how lucky you were to have had those about your house. I was the unsuccessful bidder at a local auction several years ago on a mourning theorem, probably much like the stencil piece you grew up with. Still thinking about that piece today!

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  5. Hi All,

    Chronica Domus asked me to post a comment about this wonderful piece of mourning art. I’m the one behind Art of Mourning (www.artofmourning.com), which was mentioned above!

    Indeed, this has its origins from 1760, with the introduction of the Neoclassical period. This came from a mix of different events, such as the Enlightenment and the humanist theory that followed, as well as the archaeological discoveries at Herculaneum and Pompeii, which allowed for society to connect back to Greco-Roman times. The Industrial Revolution, increase in globalisation through colonisation and human mobility all were factors in accessing materials to create jewels and art that had ubiquitous sentimental meaning cross-culturally. High production and new wealth all made the need to wear/display a piece of fashion to denote the ‘self’ in society all the more important.

    This piece is at the apex of the time. You can find a lot of the detail about its inception in the following article, from its contraction to its symbolism:

    http://artofmourning.com/2014/06/16/6655/

    At the end of the day, the technology of accessible photography didn’t exist until 1840s and was not viable for people to afford. So, what could one do in order to capture a moment of grief or love for a family? Professional hairworkers had built an industry around working hair (read more at http://artofmourning.com/2015/03/16/hairwork-an-introduction/). It was a professional industry and also one that could be created at home, so hair was a loving product given with absolute love. Working it into various shapes and symbols only made it identifiable for a specific time, where showing the urn, plinth, willow on opaque glass was commonly seen as standard mourning symbolism.

    Thanks to Chronica Domus for getting in touch, it’s truly a lovely example of its art!

    Regards,
    Hayden

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    1. Hello Hayden,

      You do my readers and I a great honor by joining in on the discussion of mourning hair work here today, thank you. I am delighted to have read your informative comment on the background of how the symbolism of mourning art has sprung from the discoveries at Herculaneum and Pompeii. Thinking about this further, I do recall reading somewhere that the draped urn we associate strongly today with funerary imagery evolved from the Greco-Roman influence during Neoclassical times. The cloth covering the urn, which would have sat in a niche of a Roman villa, was pulled back on the anniversary of the deceased, hence the imagery of a draped urn becoming a symbol of mourning.

      Thank you once again for taking the time out of your busy day to stop by and enlighten and delight my readers with your extensive knowledge of mourning art.

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  6. Fascinating! I've often seen Victorian mourning jewellery at Auctions in Australia, but not pictures such as yours. Probably because they are so early? Fascinating subject matter and it's funny the way that something is found slightly creepy by some in modern life… It reminds me recently of the photographs of dead Victorian era children - propped up in chairs, dressed and made to look as if they were still alive. Possibly because photography was so prohibitively expensive back then they decided to capture the child after death rather than in life as a memento?

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    1. Hello Heidi,

      Yes, the little hair mourning scenes, such as the one I feature here today, are much older than the Victorian hair jewelry you've seen at auction.

      I once found such a photograph as you describe in an antiques shop, buried beneath piles of less noteworthy photographs. I purchased it as a gift for my friend who delights in such imagery. At the time, I had no idea of their rarity and their worth. I don't think I paid more than $10 for it, a score to be sure!

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  7. At one of the museums in Richmond, Virginia, I saw examples of mourning hair jewellery. Several years ago, I met someone who owned an extensive collection of mourning jewellery. To me, it is very unusual.

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    1. Hello slf,

      I had the privilege of visiting Richmond three years ago and enjoyed the museum I visited (The Valentine) immensely. I do not recall seeing mourning jewelry there and would like to know which particular museum it was you saw it in.

      Although I do not collect mourning jewelry, I adore the rings with the typical urn and graveside scene. They are very beautiful diminutive works of art and so elegant. If I were so lucky as to have one, I would wear it on a night out. I'm sure it would be a wonderful conversation piece.

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    2. It has been a few years so I am not sure but I think the mourning hair jewelry was at the Museum of the Confederacy. If not that one, then it was at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. I visited both in Richmond.

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    3. Thank you, slf, for enlightening me. Obviously, I need to plan another visit to that fine city and make a point of visiting these museums. I so did enjoy my trip there the first time around.

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  8. CD, I never even thought of this mourning hair art as an art genre all to it's own until you brought it to my attention. Interesting? Very Macabre? only very little initially. I am interested in finding out more about this. The clergyman must have given it's blessing or the disrespectability would have kept many away.
    I would think human hair would quickly decompose so what preservatives do they use?

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    1. Hello GSL,

      I don't associate mourning art as being disrespectful in any possible way and I doubt the clergy did either. After all, it is a loving act of remembrance and besides, keeping a lock of hair from a loved one was considered so very romantic in days gone by.

      You make an interesting point about the preservation of the hair in these works of art. I'm not certain how the hair was preserved, and if it was preserved at all. Hair is made of keratin, a very tough fiber (horn too), so I assume decomposition would take place very slowly over the years.

      I encourage you to read more on the subject by visiting Art of Mourning's very informative website.

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    2. Apparently I was misunderstood as I meant disrespectfull/sacreligious in a clergyman's eyes circa 1800 when religous/burial customs were far more strict. You did provide the answer and I'd forgotten about a lock of hair being such a coveted keepsake.
      I will delve further into this and again many thanks for this interesting introduction.

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    3. Hello GSL,

      I understood what you were implying with regards to this form of art being sacrilegious, at least to a man of the cloth, but I still don't believe that would have been the case at all. Hair was lovingly kept as a memento of a loved family member (some even hid hair in lockets to be worn around the neck). I would imagine some clergy (depending on which denomination) would consider cremation (a practice undertaken for hundreds of years before the vogue for mourning hair art) more of a sacrilege than the preservation of a snippet of hair. Regardless, this is all such a fascinating subject, at least to me.

      Thanks for joining in on the banter. It has been, as always, a pleasure!

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  9. Dear CD,
    Mourning memorabilia has a certain somber elegance although I am drawn more to the jewelry than the wall art. You simply don't find that type of exquisite Victorian/Edwardian workmanship anymore. Technology and the Internet allow us to keep and share memories very easily today, but they lack the intimacy of finely crafted locket or brooch.
    Best,

    KL Gaylin

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    1. Hello KL Gaylin,

      I do wonder if technology (such as the Internet) will turn us all into keyboard masters at the expense of losing our desire for mastering traditional skills. Who will be our next generation of carpenters, tailors, potters, or even plumbers? From what I've observed, students in the US are pushed towards academia rather than vocational training and I believe we as a society need to support both (not everyone is cut out to be the next Einstein but we all require a plumber from time to time).

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