Horsehair (Crin de Cheval)

In the mourning and sentimental jewellery of the 18th and 19th centuries, horsehair was an important accompanying material to hairwork (see Hairwork). Unlike human hair - which supplied the emotional core and the individual substance of remembrance - horsehair served as a technical auxiliary material: thicker, stiffer, better at holding its shape, available in larger quantities. The famous French cheveliers and the Swedish tagel workshops (above all in Våmhus) often worked horsehair and human hair in the same workshop, sometimes even in the same piece of jewellery. Today horsehair is a small niche as a jewellery material - sustained by a handful of specialised European workshops and used occasionally in equestrian memorial jewellery.

Material and working

Horsehair comes from the manes, tails and forelocks of horses. Important differences from human hair:

• Thickness: 150–300 µm as against 50–100 µm for human hair
• Hardness and stiffness: markedly stiffer and less supple; ideal for weaves that hold their shape
• Colours: black, dark brown, chestnut, blond, white; by mixing hair from different donor horses, all intermediate shades can be achieved
• Length: tail hair up to 100 cm, mane hair 30–60 cm; longer pieces allow more complex weaves without visible joining knots
• Workability: good to plait, weave and knot; less good to comb or to lay in strands

Before working, the horsehair is washed, often boiled (in order to remove fats and proteins) and sorted. In a typical 19th-century workshop, hundreds of bundles of sorted horsehair in various colours and lengths stood ready for use.

History

Antiquity to the Middle Ages. Horsehair was long used as a purely utilitarian material - for bowstrings, upholstery stuffing, brush bristles. A decorative use is documented only sporadically.

17th and 18th centuries. In Sweden - above all in the region of Dalarna, in the village of Våmhus - a distinct horsehair plaiting tradition arises out of peasant necessity. During the winter months women plait horsehair into small utilitarian objects, later also into jewellery. The tagel tradition becomes a seasonal source of income; in the 18th century women from Våmhus travel the Swedish and Norwegian markets with their plaited horsehair bracelets, necklaces and rings.

In parallel, the profession of the cheveliers (hair artists) establishes itself in France. These workshops work with human hair as their principal material, but use horsehair as a technical auxiliary material - as a weaving core, as reinforcement and as a guiding rail in plaiting.

High point (1780–1880). With the spread of sentimental jewellery (see Sentimental Jewellery) and later of Victorian mourning jewellery (see The Victorian Era (1837–1901)), demand for hairwork rises dramatically. The Swedish tagel women and the French cheveliers produce in massive numbers - bracelets, necklaces, mourning rings with plaited hair in the shank. In this period the distinction between horsehair and human hair is often deliberately blurred: advertising spoke of "hairwork" without specifying precisely, and customers mostly expected a mixture of both materials.

Decline (from 1880). With the advent of photography as a cheaper substance of remembrance and the general decline of ritualised mourning fashion after 1900, both branches of hairwork lose in importance. The Swedish tagel workshops hold out into the 1950s; the French cheveliers largely disappear by the 1930s.

Techniques

Horsehair is worked with the same techniques as human hair:

Plaiting. Three-, four- or multi-strand plaiting into bands and cords. The plaiting patterns range from simple braid plaits to highly complex, many-threaded patterns with recognisable ornamentation.

Weaving (table weaving). On a small table loom, horsehairs are woven into flat bands. These bands are the basis for bracelets, mourning necklaces and mourning rings.

Knotting. Complex knotting produces three-dimensional structures - small flowers, grapes, spherical forms. In high-quality mourning jewellery pieces, often as the central motif of a plaited bracelet.

Hollow plaiting. Horsehair is plaited around a wooden core and, once finished, the core is removed - the result is a hollow horsehair tube, closed with gold end caps. This is the standard construction for mourning bangles with horsehair.

Embroidery. On fabric or paper, horsehair is used as a fine embroidery thread - for floral motifs, inscriptions, or as an underlying ground painting in pendant miniatures.

Jewellery applications

Mourning bracelets. The most frequent application. A plaited or woven horsehair tube with gold end caps and a central medallion (often with a glass viewing window over a lock of the deceased person's human hair) forms the classic mourning bracelet (see Mourning Bracelet).

Mourning necklaces. Long, narrow horsehair plaits with a small pendant were worn as mourning necklaces (see Mourning Necklace) - an inexpensive alternative to the more costly link chain in gold or jet.

Mourning rings. The ring shank of plaited horsehair is clamped into a gold or silver mount; the upper part of the ring often carries a hollow setting with the deceased person's human hair. This mixed construction is a speciality of the Swedish tagel workshops.

Brooches and pendants. Horsehair as a ground material in pendants and brooches - for example as a woven dark ground behind a miniature painting or behind a small lock of human hair under rock crystal.

Horsehair today

In the current memorial jewellery market, horsehair plays three specific roles:

The Swedish tagel tradition. A handful of workshops in Våmhus and Dalarna continue to produce after historical patterns. The pieces are demanding in craft terms, production takes several weeks, and the price lies in the middle to upper four-figure range.

Equestrian memorial pieces. When a beloved horse dies, a memorial piece of jewellery can be made from its tail or mane hair - typically a bracelet, a collar pendant or a thin plaited tail braid in a gold or silver mount. This branch has been growing slowly since the 2000s, sustained by the growing recognition of animals as family members.

Restoration context. Antique mourning jewellery pieces with horsehair components occasionally require repair - a broken horsehair shank, a fractured end cap, a loosened central medallion. Specialised restoration workshops in Sweden, France and Great Britain work on these pieces.

Care

Horsehair jewellery is durable, but sensitive to water:

• Avoid contact with water - horsehair swells when wet and can warp
• Store dry in a case with fabric lining; not together with harder pieces of jewellery (risk of scratching)
• Do not comb or brush - the plaits are worked under tension and can tear under mechanical stress
• Avoid contact with lotion, perfume and hairspray
• Cleaning only with a soft dry cloth; in the case of heavier soiling, consult a workshop

With antique pieces (more than 100 years old) particular caution is called for - over the decades the horsehair becomes brittle and tears more easily. Such pieces should be worn only on rare, special occasions; for everyday wear either modern reproductions or other forms of mourning jewellery are to be recommended.