Nathaniel Hawthorne (Salem, Massachusetts, 1804 - 1864, Plymouth, New Hampshire)
Lock of Nathaniel Hawthorne's Hair in a Box with a Note, 1915
Hair; brass box with crystal top; ink on paper, 5.5 x 2 cm (2 3/16 x 13/16 in.)
This small, round brass box has a crystal top that flips open and is cracked in some places. Inside the box there is a lock of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s hair, which is light brown or dark blonde and arranged in a circle. Under the hair there is paper with ink handwriting.
Blue Room
Commentary
Author and social reformer Annie Adams Fields – also the widow of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s publisher, James T. Fields – presented her friend Isabella Stewart Gardner with this lock of hair in 1915. Retaining the hair of the deceased was a common memorial practice; often, they were enshrined in jewelry to adorn the clothes of the living. Isabella Stewart Gardner treasured this modern reliquary for its connection to Hawthorne, a vital figure in 19th century American literature.