The exact origin of modern-day lockets is difficult to trace, but they are thought to have evolved from ancient amulets.
Long before lockets as we know them came into existence, container jewellery—tiny vessels designed to hold small keepsakes—had been in use. The earliest “lockets” might have contained medicinal herbs, religious relics, prayers, or perfumes. An early Egyptian example of this style likely held substances believed to possess magical properties.
Hathor-headed crystal pendant, c. 743-712 BC.
Jewellery has always been the most convenient way to carry something meaningful with you at all times. During the Black Plague, tiny perforated pomanders—similar to lockets—were filled with ambergris or other scented materials that people believed or hoped would protect them from disease. At the time, it was thought that the plague could be contracted by breathing in contaminated air, so doctors advised their patients to carry pleasant-smelling items to mask the foul odors associated with the illness.
One of the earliest known examples of a sentimental locket belonged to Queen Elizabeth I. The ring, dated 1575, contained a miniature portrait of herself and her mother, Anne Boleyn. It is said that she never removed it.
Elizabeth I’s Chequer Ring.
Lockets as we recognise them today gained popularity in the 1800s.
The earliest examples often contained locks of a loved one’s hair, sometimes simply, sometimes intricately woven into elaborate designs. These lockets were not necessarily mourning pieces—many were purely sentimental. In a time before photography, a lock of hair might have been all one had to remember a loved one during periods of separation.
A particularly poignant tradition was for parents to leave a locket with their child when placing them in an orphanage.
A charter for the Foundling Hospital, a children’s home in London during the 1700s, stipulated that parents leaving their children should “affix on each child some particular writing, or other distinguishing mark or token.” This token might be a note, a small item like a ribbon, brooch, or a locket. These tokens were intended to help identify the child if the mother was ever able to return. For centuries, lockets have served as symbols of hope, heritage, and remembrance.
1860s Tintypes and albumen silver prints in brass, glass and shell enclosures. Brian D. Caplan Collection. Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The invention of photography brought about significant change, and lockets adapted alongside this new technology. Not long after the first photographic images were developed, everyone desired a portrait. Ambrotypes, images printed on glass, were the first to appear. They were followed by tintypes, printed on small pieces of iron, which could be cut out and placed in a pocket, a little leather-bound book, or a locket. Tintype cameras were relatively portable, allowing enterprising photographers in the late 19th century to set up shop at county fairs and boardwalks, offering affordable portraits while customers waited. Photography became accessible to all.
In the United States, lockets gained widespread popularity during the Civil War, when soldiers would give them to their sweethearts as a keepsake in case they did not return home. The Industrial Revolution made it possible for people from a range of social classes to purchase mass-produced lockets, which became the perfect containers for photographs. The practice of soldiers gifting lockets to their loved ones continued through both World War I and World War II. This tradition was so widespread that lockets were even sold at post offices.