Something to do the next time you’re snowed in up in the Swiss Alps or at least until the thunderstorm stops. Victorian hair work designs, found in the collections of the New York Public Library. Feather ferns and such, much of this would have been put in the back of a locket behind the miniature of a deceased relative.

Hair work designs. P. Florentin, artist. Lemercier et cie, printer. Victorian. Undated but the printer was in business after 1827..French, presumably printed in Paris where Lemercier was located. Wallach Division Picture Collection, New York Public Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/d07543b0-c54f-012f-b613-58d385a7bc34?canvasIndex=0
Hair work designs. P. Florentin, artist. Lemercier et cie, printer. Victorian. Undated but the printer was in business after 1827. French, presumably printed in Paris where Lemercier was located. Wallach Division Picture Collection, New York Public Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/d01d6710-c54f-012f-5ed0-58d385a7bc34?canvasIndex=0
Hair work designs. P. Florentin, artist. Lemercier et cie, printer. Victorian. Undated but the printer was in business after 1827. French, presumably printed in Paris where Lemercier was located. Wallach Division Picture Collection, New York Public Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/d2be4d70-c54f-012f-f8c8-58d385a7bc34?canvasIndex=0
Hair work designs. P. Florentin, artist. Lemercier et cie, printer. Victorian. Undated but the printer was in business after 1827. French, presumably printed in Paris where Lemercier was located. Wallach Division Picture Collection, New York Public Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/d1f1faf0-c54f-012f-2ed8-58d385a7bc34?canvasIndex=0
Hair work designs. P. Florentin, artist. Lemercier et cie, printer. Victorian. Undated but the printer was in business after 1827. French, presumably printed in Paris where Lemercier was located. Wallach Division Picture Collection, New York Public Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/d26346e0-c54f-012f-3205-58d385a7bc34?canvasIndex=0

Surely you’d get a professional hair work artist to execute the more complicated looking designs but maybe not. I found a similar work that has a scan of the title page, which states that it was printed in 1865, but by a different lithographer/printer. So I am not sure it is the same one, but the date looks accurate. Not finding much more about P. Florentin but Lemercier et cie were well known lithographers. Later they did photogravure, too.

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