In the 1800s, secret rooms were all the rage. People made houses with secret rooms, furniture with secret rooms, and jewelry with secret rooms.
The gold ring depicted was made in the first half of the 1800s, and probably belonged to the skipper of the jekt in Hadsel, Hans Rener Bruun (1803-1867). The gold ring was produced in Bergen by master goldsmith Peter Michael Blytt (1763-1836).
The ring has a rosette in the shape of two hands that hold together, and on each side there are two small balls. If you press these balls inwards, a click is heard, and the sides of the ring open!
In the tiny, secret room, we find neatly braided, blonde hair. We assume that the blonde locks originally belonged to Hans’ wife, Dorothea Nannestad Bruun (1805 – 1886). It was common to wear jewellery made of hair, or with elements of hair in the 1800s in Europe. Wearing someone else’s lock of hair was perceived as intimate and personal, and an expression of love between two people. When Hans was traveling, he could always take a small part of his beloved with him, as long as he wore the gold ring. The ring is part of the collection at Melbo Manor