Family hair collection. HAIRWORK.

An uncommon example of this Victorian family practice, likely composed during a period of mourning, with 23 locks of hair tied with blue ribbons for girls and red ribbons for boys. In the Victorian period, it became common practice for bereaved family members to collect locks of hair from deceased loved ones. The practice was popularized by Queen Victoria, who began wearing hair jewellery as tokens of mourning. This example has a cross-stitched name under each lock. Those legible include, for example, "Mother", "Father", "Albert", and "Callie". Among the cross-stitch is a family photograph containing 13 members. The woman sitting on the lower left side of the image appears propped up, perhaps indicative of post-mortem photography. This became popular during the Victorian period as photography became more widely accessible. Light yellow perforated paper cross-stitched with blue boarders and purple lettering, 23 hair locks tied to paper with red and blue ribbons, portrait collotype (7 x 4.8 cm) mounted within window at head. Presented in 20th century gold lacquered frame (31.2 x 26.1 cm), glazed. Framer's sticker and job label on verso. Occasional losses to ribbons and lettering, small losses to lower left of paper, hair samples generally well preserved. A very good example.