Framing Hair

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Hephzebah

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Customer brough in a wreath of human hair, (delicate looking braided and woven into flowers)
that he inherited. This wreath is from the late 1800's. We are couching this to acid free matboard and then framing in a shadowbox. Question - anyone know if we need to PRESESRVE this somehow? Do we need to spray it with something? Leave it as is? It's lasted this long, but I'm wondering. Maybe someone knows where I can go to get information on this?
 
If the hair is in good shape now, conservation framing should be preservation enough. Just to be sure, check with a conservator or the PPFA gurus.

------------------
Jim Price
Western Winds Frame and Gallery
 
Do not spray the hair with anything. By your description, there are flowers as well as the hair. You don't want to run the risk of possibly damaging or discoloring the flowers or the hair.

I have re-framed an antique hair needlework. The use of hair in pictures was most common during the Victorian ages. They were often done to remember a female family member who had just passed on, or sometimes a braid would be sent to a loved one who was far away.

If it has survived this long, it does not need to be altered. You might want to carefully check for bugs.

Good Luck, and don't forget to take pictures!
Sue
 
Hair is mostly made up of collagen and keratin - tough stuff, which is why King Tut still has some of his. Moths are the biggest source of danger but a tightly sealed frame package should defeat the little critters. It's something your customer might want occasionally to check for, though.

Be glad the hair is neatly done up in a wreath. I once had a customer bring me grandpa's first haircut; just a handful of blond ringlets. Oh yeah, we frame ANYTHING.
Kit
 
Eewwww! I hope I never have to frame one of those hair wreaths. Can't even stand to look at them in museums. Two historical museums in our town have examples of them. Some folks even collect them and the Victorian era hair jewelry.
eek.gif
 
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Hephzebah:
Customer brough in a wreath of human hair, (delicate looking braided and woven into flowers)
that he inherited. This wreath is from the late 1800's. We are couching this to acid free matboard and then framing in a shadowbox. Question - anyone know if we need to PRESESRVE this somehow? Do we need to spray it with something? Leave it as is? It's lasted this long, but I'm wondering. Maybe someone knows where I can go to get information on this? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
Thank you all for the timely response and excellent information.

I did check the wreath for bugs, Sue. There is evidence that moths had invaded the piece.
I called a Taxidermist who suggested a spray that would do no harm to the hair yet kill any bugs. Jana, eew is right!! I guess you either love this kind of stuff or are repelled by it. Fortunately, my framing partner does not mind touching it!
 
A tad slow, but . . .

I found this old file, and thought it might be a good read.

But then again, maybe not.
Hair are some gleanings from an article in Piecework Magazine, March-/April, 1996

Hairwork was a way of remembering friends and relatives long before the advent of
photography.
Usually arrangements would include hair of family members worked into types of flowers
and leaves, and arranged into a wreath, the equivalent of a family portrait. Hair from new additions would be attached to a card an saved on the back of the frame and added
It has it's clearest early roots in Scandinavia in the early 1800(a large wig-making industry).
It came to vogue during the rein of Queen Victoria. Hair ornaments were a symbol of love and friendship, given as gifts. A lock of your baby or your sweeties hair attached to a card in your wallet was like a Sears portrait of today. It was used also to symbolize mourning. those items tend to have an engraved date.
Big in the US from 1840 to 1870.
Aside form the wall displays there are also watch fobs, rings, bracelets, earrings, broaches and necklaces.
Exchanged in the same way today's youth (grunge kids) give those photo stickers of
themselves to each other(or the way a particular tattoo or piercing is a symbol of a certain friend or loved one, here or gone)

"There is no more simple or appropriate mode of preserving a momento of a friend, it is a rivilege to posses a very special and personal momento of hair"
Lady's Fancy Work 1867

If it isn't arranged and placed in a display, then for the most part it was made much like you do bobbin lace.
you can find Victorian hairwork at:
Dearborn Historical Soc., and the
Henry Ford Museum in Dearborurn, MI
Shelbourne Museum in Shelbourne ,VT
Vesterheim Museum in Decorah, IA
UT Pioneers Museum in Salt lake City, UT
American Swedish Institute. in Minneapolis, MN
U of WI, in Milwaukee, the Helen Louise Allen Collection

Ruth Gordon publishes the H.A.I.R. Line newsletter about the craft and history of
hair-work

H.A.I.R. Line
24629 Cherry St.
Dearborn, MI
48124
other sources:
The Art of Hair Work: Hair Braiding and Jewelry of Sentiment
orig. pub 1875,
now (1989) by Lacis in Berkeley, CA
 
This may be a little late to be helpful, but spraying is not a good idea.

As a preventative measure against infestation, insert into a sealed plastic bag, freeze the whole for three to five days, thaw for not longer than two days, and re-freeze for three to five days - will kill critters and their eggs. Won't work if you do not re-freeze. Reference: diapause

The hair may be slightly acidic. If humidity is a potential problem use a pH neutral mountboard; if humidity is not a problem, c-p quality mountboard will work well.

[This message has been edited by Orton (edited February 05, 2001).]
 
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