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For thousands of years, hair has been intricately woven into jewelry and art. This tradition dates back to ancient Egypt, where tomb paintings depict pharaohs and their partners exchanging hair tokens as symbols of love. However, the art of hairwork peaked during the Victorian era, when locks from the living were used to create tokens of affection, and those from the deceased were fashioned into memorials. Both men and women adorned themselves with hair jewelry, which included elaborate braids turned into rings, necklaces, bracelets, and even watch chains. Hair was also used in wreaths, paintings, and sculptures, often embellished with gold, jet, enamel, and seed pearls. While many pieces were made from the hair of loved ones, there was also a market for exotic, high-quality hair from strangers. (Explore collections at Historic New England and the Massachusetts Historical Society for remarkable examples.)
The Victorian obsession with hair was intertwined with their fascination with death, a constant reality in an era of high mortality rates. Karen Bachmann, a jewelry expert and professor at Pratt Institute who teaches hairwork classes at Brooklyn's Morbid Anatomy Museum, notes that hair mementos helped Victorians process grief. "Hairwork fascinates me because it transforms a physical relic into a representation of the whole person," she explains. "Much like relics of saints, Victorians preserved locks of hair to keep their loved ones close, both physically and emotionally."
Today, Victorian hairwork can still be viewed in select locations, alongside other historical and cultural sites that celebrate the stories behind famous and lesser-known locks:
1. Leila's Hair Museum // Independence, Missouri
Leila's Hair Museum offers an immersive introduction to Victorian hair art. Founded by hairdresser Leila Cohoon, the museum boasts over 600 hair wreaths and 2,000 hair-based jewelry items, such as bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and cufflinks. Cohoon shares that her passion began in 1956 when she discovered a gold-framed hair wreath at an antique shop in Kansas City. Since then, she has expanded her collection through estate sales, auctions, and donations. Initially opened in 1986 within her cosmetology school, the museum relocated to its current site in 2005. Cohoon also teaches Victorian hairwork techniques, having reconstructed 30 historical methods and continuing to decode five more.
2. Avanos Hair Museum // Goreme, Turkey
This unique museum, housed in a cave, doubles as a pottery center and guest house. As Atlas Obscura observes, labeling it a museum might be generous, but its display of around 16,000 hair locks hanging from ceilings and walls is undeniably striking. The collection, reportedly started in 1979, features hair from female visitors, each strand varying in color and length. Legend has it that a local potter began the tradition by requesting a lock of hair from a departing friend as a keepsake. Inspired by the gesture, other visitors followed suit, leading to the museum's extensive collection.
3. Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum houses an impressive array of hair jewelry, prominently displayed in a cabinet on the mezzanine of Room 91. Notable pieces include a stunning diamond-and-pink sapphire brooch featuring a lock of braided blond hair, a delicate brooch crafted to honor a 16-year-old who passed away in 1842, and a 17th-century ring adorned with an enameled skeleton set against a hair background, dedicated to a child identified only by the initials “I.C.”
4. John Reznikoff’s Collection
John Reznikoff’s private collection of celebrity hair is rarely accessible to the public, reserved primarily for high-profile buyers. The collection includes strands from George Washington, Beethoven, Napoleon, and John Dillinger, as well as a lock of Abraham Lincoln’s hair, reportedly taken after his assassination and still containing traces of brain matter. Reznikoff values this piece, housed in a gold-and-glass case, at approximately $750,000. While some items are meticulously preserved, most are stored in simple envelopes within a filing cabinet, accompanied by authentication documents.
Reznikoff sources his collection from auctions, small dealers, and occasionally private individuals, as reported by The New York Times. He ceased acquiring hair from living celebrities after a legal dispute with Neil Armstrong’s barber. Despite this, demand for historical hair remains strong—in 2008, Reznikoff sold strands of Beethoven’s hair to a company that transformed them into a synthetic diamond, later fetching $202,000 on eBay.
5. The Japan Hair Museum // Kyoto
Hair, fashion, and history are deeply intertwined—consider the flappers' bobs or the iconic 1960s beehives. At Kyoto's Japan Hair Museum, also called the Japanese Coiffure Museum, 115 hairpieces trace Japan's history through its evolving hairstyles, from ancient times to today's product-driven trends. The museum also showcases hundreds of hair ornaments and combs. For those particularly interested in hair accessories, Tokyo's Traditional Japanese Hair Ornaments museum offers another fascinating destination.
6. Bangsbo Museum // Frederikshavn, Denmark
Hairwork has a rich tradition in Scandinavia, where 19th-century poor harvests spurred rural women to create hair art and jewelry as a cottage industry. Known as hårkullor, or "hair ladies," these women traveled across Europe crafting hair-based items and sending earnings back to support their villages. They produced a variety of jewelry—brooches, rings, and watch chains—using hair typically supplied by customers. Men often wore watch chains braided from their wives' hair, while women adorned themselves with necklaces and rings made from their husbands' locks. The Bangsbo Museum now houses Northern Europe's largest collection of hair art, featuring necklaces, rings, wreaths, plaques, and even a peculiar pair of hairy mittens.
7. John Varden’s Cabinets
In the 1850s, John Varden, an employee at the US Patent Office, began gathering locks of hair for a display titled "Hair of Persons of Distinction." This unique collection included hair from notable figures like inventor Samuel Morse, sculptor Clark Mills, General Sam Houston, and Senators Henry Clay and Jefferson Davis. Varden later assembled a second display featuring hair from US presidents, starting with George Washington and ending with Franklin Pierce. Both collections, once housed at the Patent Office, are now part of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. The first cabinet is particularly notable for Varden's written plea: “Those having hair of Distinguished Persons, will confere [sic] a Favor by adding to this Collection."
8. Myrans Hemslöjd // Vamhus, Sweden
Vamhus, Sweden, stands as one of the last places in Europe where hairwork remains a vibrant tradition. During the 19th century, women from the village traveled extensively across Europe to practice and share this craft, ensuring its survival. Today, you can commission custom hairwork jewelry, such as brooches, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, or watch chains, by visiting here. The tradition is proudly showcased at Myrans Hemslöjd, a local handicrafts store dedicated to preserving this unique art form.
