Artwork Page for Untitled (Case with portraits of a man and woman and hair ornaments)

Details / Information for Untitled (Case with portraits of a man and woman and hair ornaments)

Untitled (Case with portraits of a man and woman and hair ornaments)

c. 1870s

19th century

Medium
Photographs: photographs on enamel, framed in copper alloy metal frames; hair lockets: hair with pen and black and ink on cream-colored backing; case: leather with metal push-clasp and velvet-lined interior
Measurements
Image: 3.5 x 3 cm (1 3/8 x 1 3/16 in.); Case: 9 x 5 x 1 cm (3 9/16 x 1 15/16 x 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
John Cook Memorial Fund 2017.9
Public Domain
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Location
230 Photography
Print
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Did You Know?

"Hairwork," produced in commercial workshops and as a popular craft during the Victorian era, was used to celebrate the living and commemorate the dead.

Description

The photographs of this man and woman, presumably husband and wife, are juxtaposed with clippings of their hair arranged to form their initials, A and M. In the late 1800s, photographic portraits and hair clippings combined in jewelry or frames served as mementos or memorials for loved ones. For permanence, the portraits here were vitrified on enamel, a process now used primarily for funerary monuments.
Within a red velvet-lined leather case, four gold-rimmed ovals display two enamel portraits and two hair lockets. On our left, a man in profile with light skin and a bowtie sits above a locket of symmetrical brown curls. Opposite, a woman with dark, braided hair gazes to our left. Below her, a locket features looped brown hair and delicate ink details. The dark leather case opens to reveal the vibrant red interior.

Untitled (Case with portraits of a man and woman and hair ornaments)

c. 1870s

19th century

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