I'm finally coming out of lurkdom to put in my two cents about the hairwork. After many, many years of researching and being very interested in hairwork, I found a hairweaver that was willing to share her knowledge of it to me. Most hairworkers do not want to share their knowledge and therefore will politely decline any inquiry. My situation being the same, it has taken me years, much research, much money, much time networking much travel to get to the right person. I was lucky, in that I did find someone in the US that taught me. She said she would never teach anyone else as she makes a living with her hairwork and couldn't afford to have too many people doing it. I consider myself a beginner and need much practice and experimenting to get better. I do not plan to sell my wares and just make it for myselfand have done a few demonstrations. I am not surprised to hear there are only 17 in the US doing this. I know of about half a dozen but I am sure there is more. Clay, I would like to hear from you who said this. Only for my own information. I do not get creeped out by the hair. Whether it come from a living or dead person I think of myself as privileged to have been able to turn their hair into a beautiful piece of jewelry. I honor that person even if I don't know who it is or was.Â
I would be interested to hear from anyone on arachne where there are museums with displays of the hairwork. I have seen the Victoria and Albert with it's display and the items that are in the archives. I have seen a few museums in Sweden. When I go to the next 3 IOLI conventions I plan to hunt out the museums in those states. The Smithsonian and the ones in Minnesota. I understand there are several in Minnesota. Linda Thompson Denver, Colorado Date: Mon, 05 Apr 2010 22:06:26 -0400 From: Clay Blackwell <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [lace] Victorian lace and Bobbin hairwork Several years ago, I was asked by one of our historical groups to explore the subject of hair weaving.  The reason I was "tapped" was because I was a lacemaker, and thus my brain must work a little bit differently than others ....  VBG!!  (Well...  I live in a small town...)  The museum had already received a fairly extensive collection of mourning jewelry from a variety of donors, and had purchased the Jeanenne Bell book "Collector's Encyclopedia of Hairwork Jewelry", which is a significant resource.  They had also engaged a woodworker to build a reproduction of the "table", as described by Mark Campbell in his 1875 book, "The Art of Hair Work".  So...  in my naivety, I troddled off, armed with the book, the table, and my (not outstanding...) skills in lacemaking.  oh!!  And I forgot to mention, that I was also laden with the intact, fat and braided, blonde pigtail of an anonymous lady....  which did not sit well with me, as I had trouble imagining how she may have come to be separated from said pigtail! I carefully studied the book and worked with the information I had...  And truthfully, there is a great deal of similarity between the art of hair weaving, and the ancient art of Kumihimo.  They aren't exactly the same, of course.  Kumihimo can be much more complex in the initial braiding process, while hair weaving is much more complex in the treatment process. I won't go into detail...  it's far too complex for a simple posting.  But, suffice it to be said that I managed to produce a display of the table being used to work the hair braid.  And, I must say that unlike working with wool (where the sheep are unharmed...), I was unable to shake the creepy feeling while working with human hair - the assumption being, of course, that if I'm making a bit of "mourning jewelry", the person is being mourned. During my research, I contacted people in Europe and in the US who continue this art. I have been assured that initially, hair jewelry was made as a token of esteem to keep one close to a loved one.  However, it was considered extremely immoral for a young woman to give a young man a locket of her hair, or a piece of jewelry from her hair until after they were betrothed.   But after the invention of the camera, a photograph was a much more modern way to keep a loved one present, and so the industry "morphed" itself to mourning jewelry.  A woman I contacted in the US was very enthusiastic, and told me that if I took up this art, I would be the 17th person to be doing this in the US today!  (Her enthusiasm, not mine...  still creeping out about the blonde pigtail!!). I'm reluctant to tell you that I did not pursue this form of art.  But it is a wide open field for anyone who wants to explore it!! Oh...  and in answer to Vicki's question...  it was assumed that the initiation of trade between Europe and the Orient brought the ancient traditions to the "east" in time to morph hair weaving with cord weaving. Clay Clay Blackwell Lynchburg, VA,  USA - - - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]
