ECL.16-2025
Parts
Object number
ECL.16-2025
Object type
Identification
Title
Lock of Sir Isaac Newton's hair
Title Type
assigned by cataloguer
Comments
A similar lock is at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Description
Content (description)
Lock of Sir Isaac Newton's hair in golden wooden frame. On the back ms. notes signed by J. B. Greenwood, dated 18th June 1784, recording the provenance.
Content (person)
Dimensions
height (actual size): 108mm
width (actual size): 108mm
width (actual size): 108mm
Material
organic
glass
wood
paper
metal
glass
wood
paper
metal
Materials & techniques note
Lock of hair in wooden frame with metal hook
Production
Date
1819
History and association
Object history note
Provenance: Ms. note on the back of frame, signed by J. B. Greenwood and dated June 18th 1784, recording that the item was allegedly part of a larger lock in possession of the Earl of Portsmouth and it was given to the Rev. John Garnett, Fellow of Trinity College, while he was staying with the Earl’s family. Garnett subsequently distributed smaller locks to friends, including, in 1784, to J.B. Greenwood, also of Trinity College, who gave it to the Library. The lock was later given to Eton College Library by the Rev. John Wilder in 1841.
Previous ownership
