brooch
- Museum number
- 2018,8042.23
- Description
-
Brooch, gold and hairwork, an upright oval with spray of pansies in cut and laid hair on ivory (?) under glass, surrounded by a tube of open table-braided hair held in four engraved gold bands. The reverse with glass-covered compartment backed with blue textile, and gold fittings at either side to attach a bracelet.
- Production date
- 1850-70
- Dimensions
-
Height: 4.60 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- Here, hair is used to make miniature pictures under glass. Strands of hair laid flat were glued together to form a strip to be cut into small shapes, which were then stuck into place. The pansy signified ‘thoughts' (from the French 'pensées'). The lower petals, done with tiny snips of hair glued to shape and dotted about, imitate the new blotched variety produced by intensive hybridisation in the early 1800s.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
2019 Jul- Sep, London, British Museum (G90), 'Woven in hair a recent gift of hairwork jewellery'
- Acquisition date
- 2018
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 2018,8042.23
