A single 4 in. lock of hair housed in a mid-to-late 19th-century daguerreotype case with accompanying contemporary image protected behind glass.

A MEMENTO OF THE FIRST LADY.

During the 19th century it was common to keep locks of hair as mementos of both the dead and of the living. The present lock of hair was purportedly attained by Mrs. Caroline Wright, wife of Indiana governor Joseph A. Wright, while the two were in Washington for President Abraham Lincoln's second inauguration of 4 March 1865. Known for her collection of unique hair art, Mrs. Wright had sent Mary Lincoln a "beautiful wreath of hair" earlier that year, for which Mrs. Lincoln thanked her in a letter dated 15 February 1865. The Lincolns and the Wrights were close, with President Lincoln even writing in full the concluding passage of his Second Inaugural Address on the first page of Caroline's autograph album. In addition to Mary Lincoln's hair it is believed that Mrs. Wright also attained locks of hair from President Lincoln, Secretary of State William Seward, Senator Charles Sumner, former Secretary of War Simon Cameron, and Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax, likely for an elaborate piece of hair jewelry which may have been abandoned in the aftermath of President Lincoln's assassination a little over a month after his second inauguration.

PROVENANCE:
Caroline R. Wright (1812-1896), former First Lady of Indiana; Grace Francis Peck (d. 1959), granddaughter of the above; Eleanor S. Wendell (d. 1992), daughter of the above; Christie's New York, 20 November 1992, lot 285 (part of); The Forbes Collection; Christie's New York, 19 October 2002, lot 121 (part of); Carroll Joseph Delery III (1943-2002), Americana collector and owner of the Historical Shop