The material expressions of friendship shared between Queen Charlotte and Mary Delany were valued not only for the physical and intellectual efforts involved in their creation but also for their significance as finished and gifted items. The composite and collage-like designs of their work reflected the influence and collaboration of each woman’s creativity. A particularly poignant example of their exchange is a lock of the queen’s hair, given to Delany in 1780 and mounted on silk, encased in a paper packet. The hair is fastened with a blue ribbon, tied in bows, identical to the blue ribbon used on the spine and boards of Delany’s album, created just a few months later. This shared aesthetic language highlights the deep collaboration at the heart of their friendship, with the album serving as a symbol of their mutual creativity and exchange.
