An Antiques Roadshow guest brought her commemorative rings for appraisal, only to discover that some of them were made of human hair.
In a recently resurfaced clip from the 2008 PBS show, an anonymous woman presented her collection of antique jewelry for the late Barry Weber to appraise at an event in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Shortly after inspecting the props, Barry dropped the explosive piece of information.
“You know sepia tones were little pieces of hair that they cut off and made into a paste and painted with that,” he said.
But despite the creepy curveball, the guest didn’t seem too surprised.
An Antiques Roadshow guest brought her collection of rings, only to discover that some of them had been made from human body parts.
The sepia tones of the rings were made from cut strands of hair, turned into a paste and painted with
She had previously explained that as a child she was fascinated by commemorative rings.
“I had read about a coffin ring once in a mystery novel when I was young, and I was intrigued, so I started a search and then I noticed memorial jewelry,” he said.
Barry explained more about the tradition of the bygone era.
“It’s an interesting custom,” he said in the episode.
“If you’re not familiar with it, it seems a little creepy and strange and macabre, but there was a reality about death and the idea that people didn’t always live that long and they were prepared for it and recognized it.
‘One of the things that richer families did as a custom, especially in the 18th century, was to leave arrangements in their will.
“An appropriate amount of gold mourning jewelry will be made and distributed among family members.”
Barry finally shared his assessment of the items, which he believed were made in England.
The guest explained that when she was a child she was fascinated by commemorative rings.
Families in the 18th century distributed among themselves an appropriate amount of gold mourning jewelry.
Barry valued the woman’s entire ring collection at $40,000.
“The entire collection, as I see it today, retails for $40,000,” he declared, before joking, “It’s worth doing your homework!”
Fans of the show were impressed with the collection and weren’t put off by the addition of human hair.
“They are phenomenal,” said one on TikTok.
“I can’t believe the skull and crossbones ring is so old,” wrote another, while a third added: “What a great collection!” Very cool.’
A fourth noted: ‘People still do this today with ashes and hair. They make necklaces, rings and more.’
“Wow, I didn’t know about the ring tradition, but I’ve definitely heard of braiding the deceased’s hair into pieces of jewelry,” said a fifth. “This is fascinating.”