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Artefact of the month
OUR ‘artefact of the month’ for May, from Hamilton’s Low Parks Museum, is a historic lacquer box.
It contains medallions with locks of hair from the Hamilton and Campbell families.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, hair jewellery was very popular and was given as a token of affection or a symbol of mourning.
Often people would leave money in their will for the buying of mourning jewels containing the hair of the deceased.
A lock of hair from a loved one would be placed in a locket or ring or even woven into a bracelet and kept as a keepsake.
Queen Victoria was a fan of hair jewellery and kept locks of her beloved Albert’s hair in brooches and bracelets after his death.
This elaborate piece would have been commissioned to display the family tree of Thomas and Glencairn Carter in 1809 and the pearls in the medallions represent mourning tears.
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