I just bought this antique mourning brooch it is the first one pictured. I am so surprised to find that this hair receiver actually has the real plaited hair. It is so finely done that I did not realize that is hair under the glass! I have other mourning brooches and hair lockets but this one is so finely done.
I found these other examples of similar design and this description as follows found on the internet: An antique Victorian pinchbeck or gold colored metal mourning brooch, mounted with natural Turquoise cabochons and with a glass fronted locket compartment to the rear containing plaited hair, and dating to around c.1880.
The brooch is circular in form with a beaded edge, a teardrop border mounted with natural Turquoise cabochons & gilt roundel appliques, and a central faceted boss mounted with flower head & grape gilt appliques. The rear of the brooch has a glass fronted compartment or locket containing very finely plaited dark brown hair. The brooch has a hinged pin & C clasp fixing.’
Notes; Loose, braided, tied lovingly in silk ribbons; hair was memorialized especially by the Victorians. Often, hair would be encased within a glass or woven with metallic threads, paired with a metal setting to be worn as mourning jewelry, a memento of a friend or loved one. Hairwork, an art still practiced today by the Victorian Hairwork Society, was a popular needlework method, often resulting in 2-dimensional mourning wreaths and graveyard scenes, worked in hair on a fabric ground. Wool, because of its ability to wick moisture and resist flame, was commonly used in Western textiles throughout history, and might present itself in the form of bed linens, clothing, and needlework
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