Hair
Category
Jewellery
Date
Unknown
Materials
Human hair, Metal, Enamel
Measurements
95 mm (Length)8 mm (W)
Order this imageCollection
Ham House, Surrey
NT 1140215.2
Caption
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG (1565–1601), was a favourite of Elizabeth I (1533–1603), until he mounted an abortive coup against the queen and was executed for treason. By repute, these earrings are made with locks of hair cut from his head before his death on the scaffold in 1601. The use of hair in commemorative jewellery, also associated with the death of other public figures such as Charles I (1600–49), created intimate mementos of the deceased. These earrings belonged to Essex’s daughter Frances, Duchess of Somerset (1599–1674). A portrait of Frances by Flemish Baroque artist Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641) (private collection) depicts her wearing a hair earring, possibly one of these. The earrings were passed down the female line to her three-times great-granddaughter, Grace Carteret, Countess of Dysart (1713–55). Carteret brought the earrings to Ham House on her marriage to the 4th Earl of Dysart, Lionel Tollemache (1708–70) in 1729, and placed them in the Green Closet among her new family’s most prized treasures.
Summary
Lock of hair mounted as a jewel with a black heart shaped fitting, surmounted with a jewelled crown. Worn as an earring.