Royal Holloway art collections has recently accepted a generous gift of a pair of earrings belonging to Jane Holloway (née Driver), co-founder of Royal Holloway University and wife to Thomas Holloway.
These earrings are an example of the height of Victorian fashion; jewellery made out of hair. Whilst the Victorians were well known for their memento mori (items crafted in memory of a deceased person sometimes using remains such as hair), jewellery made using the hair of a living person became somewhat of an art form. These earrings were purportedly made from Thomas Holloway’s hair and gifted to Jane as a representation of the love in their relationship.
As part of the acquisition process, the art collections team undertake provenance research to determine details such as the date of the object, how it came into being, and methods of creation. We were fortunate that the earrings came presented in a box, which led to some clues on the provenance.
The box the earrings came in bears the insignia of hair and jewellery artist Packer (Late A. Forrer), by appointment to the Queen from the premises of 136 Regent Street. Research shows us that Antoni Forrer was a renowned Swiss jewellery artist who had an established business at 136 Regent Street in London. Forrer was well known for his artistry and skill in creating jewellery out of hair, so much so that he counted Queen Victoria amongst his clientele.
The Illustrated London News dated to 5 May 1855 declares that unfortunately Mr Forrer became bankrupt, and the business had been bought by Charles Packer – another jeweller with premises at 78 Regent Street. Despite purchasing Forrer’s business, the attraction of royal recommendation prompted Packer to retain the Forrer name, adding ‘Late A.Forrer’ to his jewellery branding.
Antoni Forrer meanwhile had moved to new premises to continue his business. The unwarranted use of Forrer’s name to promote Packer’s business seemed to displease him, and Forrer went on to take out several advertisements in news outlets proclaiming that he had no connection with his previous business at 136 Regent Street. He even mentions the fact that his name still appeared on the window of his former shop, “’late’ being written so very small… mistakes might easily occur.” He goes on to reiterate his royal recommendation and credentials in a clear snub towards Packer.
This information helps us narrow down a date for the earrings. We know that Packer bought Forrer’s business in 1855 and we know that Jane Holloway owned the earrings made from Thomas’ hair. Jane passed away in 1875, so this gives us a date range of 20 years in which the earrings may have been created. Although we can’t precisely date the earrings with this information, in the future we can look out for examples of Forrer/Packer jewellery boxes around this date range to help narrow down when the precise wording on our earring box was used.
If you would like to find out more about Royal Holloway art collections, visit our website: https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/about-us/art-collections-and-archives-homepage/art-collections/