The Art of Hair Work:  Love and Memory in the 19th Century

August 28, 2013 – November 17, 2013

at the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden
Free with admission. Free for Museum Members.

The Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden (in Manhattan) is pleased to
announce the opening of Part II of their exhibit, The Art of Hair Work.
We would appreciate your inclusion of it and the corresponding
lecture/reception wherever you deem appropriate.  Details are below, but
if you need any additional information, please let me know.

New York, NY — The Art of Hair Work:  Love and Memory in the 19th
Century, Part II, opens August 28, 2013, at The Mount Vernon Hotel
Museum & Garden and will remain on view until November 17, 2013.  Used
as tokens of love, friendship, and remembrance, the objects in this
exhibition show changing social customs and popular fashions in the 19th
century.

Hair work set into jewelry had been produced in Europe for several
centuries, but it was not until the second half of the eighteenth
century that hair jewelry began to be produced in significant quantities
in America. Hair was a natural material for mourning ornaments; however,
hair jewelry was also often used for commemorative or celebratory
purposes.

Part II of the exhibition focuses on the mid-to-late 19th century and
the development of hair jewelry in both size and the elaborate nature
and variety of designs.  Professional hair jewelry manufacturers could
now be found along Broadway, and directions for making hair work at home
were printed in popular ladies’ magazines and instructional manuals.
Objects on display include rings, charms, pendants, bracelets and two
hair wreaths, one of the more elaborate forms of this art.

An opening reception with a lecture by Art Historian and Master Jeweler
Karen Bachmann will be held on September 20th at 6pm at The Mount Vernon
Hotel Museum & Garden. Ms. Bachmann will present 19th-century mourning
rituals, focusing on hair work jewelry which reached its zenith during
the Victorian Era.

The Mount Vernon Hotel Museum building was constructed in 1799 as a
carriage house and converted into a “day hotel” in 1826.  Today the
museum transports visitors back to that Mount Vernon Hotel, a
19th-century country resort for New Yorkers escaping the crowded city
below 14th Street.  The Museum’s mission is to preserve and interpret
travel, leisure, work and play in diverse antebellum New York.

Visitor Information: The Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden is open
Tuesday through Sunday, 11:00 am to 4:00 pm.  The exhibit is open concurrent
with Museum hours and is included with admission. The Museum is located
at 421 East 61st Street between First and York Avenues.  It is easily
accessible from 59th Street/Lexington Avenue on the 4, 5, 6 or N, R, Q.
For further information call the Museum at 212-838-6878 or visit
www.mvhm.org.