01/08/2025
A Victorian hair wreath. Man House museum in Mansfield,Tx.
Some cultures have spiritual traditions that associate hair with personal energy or identity, further fueling the idea of hair holding memories.
Although hair art is frequently associated with objects of mourning, it was just as often used to make family trees or tokens of friendship. A hair wreath with an open-end at the top symbolized the deceased person’s ascent to Heaven. A family hair wreath was a way of letting others know about the family and its history; the same way that a family tree indicates who members of a certain family are and their relationships today. Since this object does have an open-end at the top, it is likely that this is a mourning object. Every meticulous knot in a strand or delicate petal of a flower formed with hair and wire reflects an intimate connection between the artist and the absent subject that acted as both portrait and talisman of a relationship.
