Hair Care

 Statistically a girls dorm bathroom may contain 10 plus hair ties per roommate. This number is often much higher if the category is expanded to hair accessories including bobby pins, headbands, bows, ribbons, etc. Curtain bangs or wolf cuts communicate entirely different personalities. For much longer than the Hailey Bieber slick back or tik-tok bubble braids, women's hair has been an object of communication and fascination. This exhibition is a collection of female subjects over a span of 3,485 years and 5 countries. Each woman's hair is a statement. Some of their hair has been sculpted, some is quite real, some is painted on a canvas. Some are made of marble, some are mahogany, some are oil. Regardless, all seven of these pieces make a claim about womanhood in a particular place and in a particular time. Consider taking a moment to walk through history and explore how an Egyptian artifact from 1500 BC can correlate to an abstract realism sculpture done by a Mexican-American Woman in 1993. What is at the root of our fascination with female hair? What are the similarities and differences between men and women's perception of it? How will we begin to perceive it next?

Title: Braid of Hair and Linen

Date: ca. 1492–1473 B.C.

Period: New Kingdom Egypt

Medium: Hair (probably human), linen

Accession Number: 36.3.195

In 1492 BC this particular woman's hair was valued enough to braid, store, and preserve long term. In its collection ,the MET has at least six of these baskets containing human braids and hair extensions. This basket sat beside the coffin of an elderly woman and was only one part of the whole ensemble. This basket would have stored toiletry items as well. 3,500 years ago a woman had enough attachment to her hair to want it preserved into her next life. 

Title: Tomb Effigy Bust of Marie de France (1327-41), daughter of Charles IV of France and Jeanne d'Evreux

Artist: Jean de Liège (Franco-Netherlandish, active ca. 1361–died 1381)

Date: ca. 1381

Medium: Marble with lead inlays

Accession Number: 41.100.132

This marble bust depicts a French princess who died at the age of 15. She once rested upon a stone pillow and had a metal crown. Her hair is parted down the middle and holds a slight wave. It sits in elegant twists and braids which would have been the fitting arrangement for a girl of her status in this time. This statue was made 40 years after her death. The MET includes limited information about this bust but it takes the space to note her hair and its arrangement. 

Title: Reliquary Bust of Saint Balbina

Date: ca. 1520–30

Artist: unknown

Medium: Oak, with paint and gilding, and human remains

Accession Number: 67.155.23

This bust houses the skull of Saint Balbina and is made of wood, paint, and metals. The piece itself is covered in symbolism including thickly woven braids. They cascade down her shoulders, over her head, and down her back. Her hair is the binding agent of the sculpture. It ties together the heavy chain resting on her neck, the elaborate headpiece, and the patterned dress. Her braids are almost chain-like similar to her saint origin story. She had to kiss the chains of saint peter to be healed of a prominent goiter. 

Title: Reliquary bust of a companion of Saint Ursula

Date: ca. 1520–30

Artist: unknown

Medium: Oak, polychromed and gilt on plaster ground; glass opening for relic

Accession Number: 17.190.728

This bust is similar in many respects to the Reliquary Bust of Saint Balbina but the statement made by her hair is entirely different. While Balbinas' hair may be in reference to the chains that healed her, the hair of this companion of Saint Ursula asks you to recognize status and duty. The hope is the audience feels inclined to devote themselves to religion alone, perhaps even to become nuns. Here, the same arrangement of braids paired with a different subject connects two entirely different connections.

Title: Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist

Artist: Andrea Solario (Italian, Milan ca. 1465–1524 Milan)

Date: ca. 1507–9

Medium: Oil on wood

Accession Number: 32.100.81

At this point I hope the hairstyle is recognizable. If curtain bangs are a thing now, braided ear-covers must have been quite the trend. Salome is held responsible for John the Baptist’ death as the blame is literally placed in her hands. She looks like a lady of the court with her crown, middle part, and of course braided ear muffs. She holds power and influence, can’t you tell by her hair? She is not a woman to be messed with. Side note-this is finally done by a woman!

Title: Woman Having Her Hair Combed

Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)

Date: ca. 1886–88

Medium: Pastel on light green wove paper, now discolored to warm gray, affixed to original pulp board mount

Accession Number: 29.100.35

Edgar Degas takes his own approach to women's hair. To him it is not a symbol in court or a worthy burial item. Degas finds women's hair sensual. We are not supposed to be in the room while this hair combing is happening. It feels quite private and sexual. The woman's body and hair are outlined in the white sheet and apron backing the important items. This woman's status and political position are relatively unknown but we do know she is beautiful and an object of desire.

Title: Woman Fixing Her Hair

Artist: Elizabeth Catlett (American and Mexican, Washington, D.C. 1915–2012 Cuernavaca)

Date: 1993

Medium: Mahogany and opals

Accession Number: 1993.217

This 90’s sculpture is a mahogany carving of the everyday woman doing an everyday task. She is fixing her hair. No longer is the hair even there. In fact, the tension created between the head and the carved arms implies hair. It is assumed that this is an African American Woman based on other artwork by Elizabeth Catlett. Why has Catlett chosen her hair as the tension point? Why did a woman 3500 years ago find daily toiletries and hair worth bringing to the grave and why does a woman living today find daily toiletries and hair valuable enough to sculpt from dense wood?