Locket with Lock of Robert Browning's Hair
maker
Unknown
Date1889
Place MadeVenice, Veneto, Italy, Europe
MediumGold and moonstone locket holding human hair
Dimensions1.5 x 1.5 cm (9/16 x 9/16 in.)
ClassificationsJewelry
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberM27e57
eMuseum ID724736
EmbARK ObjectID24292
TMS Source ID8856
Last Updated8/14/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryIn addition to collecting manuscripts and books belonging to favorite writers, Isabella Stewart Gardner acquired other evocative mementos. The inscriptions upon the locket indicate that she designed it to hold the poet’s hair. As an avid reader of contemporary poetry, Gardner admired Browning’s work and displayed this keepsake in the Long Gallery alongside other objects associated with major British authors.
MarksNotesInscribed along the rim: Robert Browning. Asolo October 1889.
ProvenanceNotesGift from Katherine de Kay Bronson (1834-1901), American expatriate and artists' patron, to Isabella Stewart Gardner on 3 January 1890.
