Mourning jewellery
Black jewellery of jet and plaited hair worn during the year of mourning – a Victorian fashion.
When Prince Albert died in 1861, Queen Victoria mourned for the rest of her life and wore black. Her court followed, and mourning jewellery of Whitby jet became fashionable across Britain and on into Europe.
Hair jewellery was common in Sweden too, where craftspeople in Våmhus in Dalarna became known for working with hair. Dates and initials on a piece can tell when and for whom it was made.
Materials: Whitby jet, black glass or vulcanite; hair
Manufacture: Jet was cut and polished in Whitby in north-east England; the hair was plaited by specialists or by the bereaved themselves.
A matt or polished black surface – jet is light and feels warm.
A glass compartment with plaited hair, sometimes with initials and a date.
Black glass (French jet) is heavier and colder than real jet.