Smithsonian Magazine · People & society

Human Hair Art Collection Finds New Home at Morbid Anatomy Library

The Morbid Anatomy Library in Brooklyn is now displaying dozens of 19th-century artworks created from human hair, a practice popular during Victorian mourning rituals.

The collection features approximately 50 "hairworks," where human hair was clipped from the deceased, woven into objects like butterflies, crowns, and flowers, and incorporated into mementos such as lockets and shadowboxes. Some pieces include personal items like religious images or handwritten notes.

This practice was influenced by Queen Victoria's elaborate mourning customs after Prince Albert's death in 1861, which popularized specific periods and styles of mourning attire.

The display preserves the legacy of Leila's Hair Museum in Missouri, which housed over 3,000 hairworks before closing last fall. Items from that collection have been donated to major museums.

Historians note that these hair artworks, often stored away and forgotten, are now being revalued as historical artifacts that commemorate loved ones.

The artifacts' arrival in New York was marked by a ceremony exploring themes of memory, grief, and the desire to keep the deceased close, with visitors potentially feeling a connection to the past through the displays.

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