How gorgeous is this?
Just look at that, what a beautiful piece of professional hairwork! The hairwork structure is adorned with gold, turquoise, garnet, and pearls.
Despite the rather opulent look of this piece, it was likely a piece of mourning jewelry. The FIDM site describes the symbolism of the piece as follows:
Its floral symbolism and stone selection signify that it was worn at a time of mourning: the thorny acanthus leaves set with a mauve garnet connote the pain of separation at death, the turquoise-mounted flowers on either side are forget-me-nots, and the pearl trimmed buds represent the tears of the gods.1
While this piece really stood out and just had to be highlighted, you can find many more items through our Pinterest and Flickr sites.
Let me know in the comments below if there are any hairwork pieces that really stand out to you!