Event

Victorian Hairwork Workshop with Karen Bachmann

Date: Sunday July 22th
Time: 10am - 4pm
Admission: $150
Location: Private Location - Address disclosed upon ticket purchase

The 19th century of the Victorian Era was a time rife with sentimental culture. Death rates were high due to numerous factors including disease, war, and high childhood mortality. Queen Victoria was an unlikely fashion icon and submerged herself in mourning after the deaths of both her husband, Prince Albert, and her mother in 1861. Aside from her mostly black wardrobe, she was widely known for her love of mourning jewelry, which very contained hair of a loved one inside.

Victorian hairwork became very popular in both jewelry and shadowbox form during the 19th century and into the beginning of the 20th century. It transcended the concept of a wearable human relic into a fashion statement during this time period.

In todays workshop, participants will learn to create wire-work and palette worked hair items that would be used in shadowbox creation. We will be working with copper wire and horsehair to form intricate twists and braiding that can be manipulated in various ways to form flowers, leaves, berries, and other shapes. Participants will be able to make an item suitable for mounting in a frame, or wearing as a brooch or hairclip.

All materials, including horsehair, will be provided by instructor. Participants are welcome to bring human hair if they like!

Professor Karen Bachmann teaches at both Pratt Institute and Fashion Institute of Design. She specializes in jewelry, holloware, and decorative art. She has particular interests in medieval memento mori and 19th century sentimental work. She is a practicing studio jeweler and a former master jeweler at Tiffany & Co. She has had work published in Art Jewelry Today, and the Lark 500 series books. Written published work includes Hairy Secrets: Human Relic as Memory Object in Victorian Hairwork Jewelry. Her most recent publication is an essay on hairwork in the book Death: a Graveside Companion, Thames & Hudson.