Victorian Photography in a Miniature Compact

Photography and hairwork are the perfect marriage of materials. Both were (and are), cheap to produce and easy to manipulate as a material. A photograph, as with hairwork, can be sliced and placed inside a frame of any size. This leads to a wild variation in quality across all forms of jewellery and accessories. As long as there is a need for someone to keepsake a sentiment of love, then there will always be a need for a person to keep their loved one with them at all times. It’s all about retaining the memories and igniting the love.

With the compact, the hair is crudely cut and put behind the frame under glass. Unlike other, contemporary compacts with palette worked hair with other materials and in opulent designs, this piece simply has the hair. To the right, we see the coloured photograph displaying the lady herself. As a keepsake for a family member, this could be carried at all times and opened to recall that sentiment.

Photography is one of the most important and fundamental technologies ever partnered with mourning and sentimental jewels, hence I would encourage everyone to read through the following articles to learn about how it developed and how it was used:

Further Reading:
> Photography in Jewellery Part 1
> Photography in Jewellery Part 2
> Photography in Jewellery Part 3
> Photography in Jewellery Part 4
> Photography in Jewellery Part 5
> Photography in Jewellery Part 6
> Photography in Jewellery Part 7