Ring braided from the hair of Tad Lincoln’s pony

[L Verge]

Until prices grew prohibitively, I used to collect hair jewelry (human hair, however). I feel safe in saying that this ring was not woven by Tad, but by someone who knew what they were doing.

It is nicely woven, and at least the clasp was done by a jeweler - just like most of those that were done by an individual or by someone in a cottage industry. There is an art to doing hair jewelry that requires waxing individual hairs and then adding others to form a larger "hair," etc. A few years ago, we had a crafter demonstrating the art at an event at Surratt House. Not too many people know how or have the time to do this now.

I also noted that the written note mentions Tad's "ponies." Did he have more than the one that was killed in the stable fire in 1864?