More Victorian memento mori

January 31, 2018 8:24 AM

The lost art of Victorian hair shrines
posted by Helga-woo (9 comments total)

It seems so delightfully creepy. This post brings to mind one of my favorite niche museums, Leila's Hair Museum in Independence, Missouri.
posted by S'Tella Fabula at 8:39 AM on January 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

My family has a pocket watch with an intricately corded fob made from the hair of one of my great-great-grandmothers; I remember being fascinated by it as a kid. As far as Victorian sentimentalism goes, this is definitely one of the cooler genres.
posted by fifthrider at 8:55 AM on January 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

(Ummm, I think it's 'memento mori'..) And I used to love digging out the old decorated tin box from the jumbled shelf in my grandmother's spare bedroom and reverently opening it to inspect (but never actually touch) the thick, coiled, dark-brown, carefully tied with a ribbon, ponytail of her girlhood years. In photos, (circa 1910?) she and her sister both had hair down to the small of their backs, but of course they all cut their hair when they got married.
posted by anguspodgorny at 10:03 AM on January 31, 2018 [2 favorites]

Oh my, that's bad proof reading on my part! Will ask the mods to correct it.
posted by Helga-woo at 10:31 AM on January 31, 2018

Fixed!
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:32 AM on January 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

I knew about mourning jewelry containing hair, but the shrines are new to me. Actually, they kind of creep me out, but very interesting.
posted by annsunny at 10:34 AM on January 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

The spectacular Mütter Museum in Philadelphia currently has an exhibition called Woven Strands: The Art of Human Hair Work through September 16th. They have a couple of examples on the website.
posted by ceejaytee at 10:47 AM on January 31, 2018 [2 favorites]

My mother made me something similiar out of tufts from our Labrador retrievers. I cherish it.
posted by crush at 1:29 PM on January 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

...flesh creeping... bile rising... ugh.
posted by Segundus at 12:02 AM on February 1, 2018