Sarah Hare's cabinet. Image @Just pleasantly floundering around
Poor Sarah Hare died in 1744 at the age of 55 of a commonplace accident. It was said that she “used to sew on a Sunday and as a punishment died from pricking her finger. “ Sarah did indeed die after injuring herself while sewing – from septicemia, or blood poisoning.
Sarah made no extraordinary contributions to this world except one – a wax effigy of herself, the only such mortuary statue of its kind in England outside of Westminster Abbey. (Most mortuary statues at the time were made of marble.) She was the youngest daughter of Sir Thomas Hare of Stow Hall in Stow Bardolph, Norfolk, where the family lived in a Jacobean style red-brick mansion. The Hare family had lived in a house on that site since 1589 and played a significant role in the village of Stow Bardolph. In 1622, Sir Ralph Hare built six almshouses and provided them with 86 acres of land for division among the inmates.
Today we know very little about Sarah Hare’s life except that she never married and was not very pretty. Sarah must also have had a premonition of her death, for she requested the following in a will dated August 1743:
“I desire Six of the poor men in the parish of Stow or Wimbotsham may put me in to the ground they having five shillings a piece for the same. I desire all the poor in the Alms Row may have two shillings and sixpence each person at the Grave before I am put in. This I hope my Executor will see firstly performed before Sunset…..I desire to have my face and hands made in wax with a piece of crimson satin thrown like a garment in a picture hair upon my head and put in a case of Mahogany with a glass before and fix’d up so near the place were my corps lyes as it can be with my name and time of Death put upon the case in any manner most desirable if I do not execute this in my life I desire it may be done after my Death.”
Her wishes were met. During her lifetime or after her death molded impressions were made of her face and hands, which were poured in wax. She was buried in the Hare mausoleum in Holy Trinity church. One can only imagine the solemn procession which carried this spinster to her grave. Surrounding her closed mahogany cabinet , which is situated in a corner of the vault, are memorials to the Hare family, dating from the 17th-20th centuries.
Sarah Hare in her cabinet. Image @Find a grave
Her cabinet is plain. A bronze plate engraved with the words – “Here lyeth the body of Sarah Hare…” – its only adornment. Her lifesize effigy has waited for over 250 years behind a pair of mahogany doors for the occasional visitor to find it.
Eye witnesses to the site have described the shock of seeing an uncanny life-like impression of a woman long dead. Only her torso, head and hands are visible. The effigy is dressed in one of Sarah’s gowns and a dark curly wig covers her head. But it is her plain features , warts and realistically painted skin blemishes that the visitor finds the most striking:
“The door to the cabinet is not without reason – she is terrifying, her face dumpy, warted, defiant. I had seen photographs of her in the years since I found her at school, but nothing could prepare me for the frisson of the cabinet door swinging open. I thought of the fairground peepshows that I can just about remember, and I realised that I would have paid for this, too.” – The Cabinet of Sarah Hare
Another eye witness described her reaction:
“I opened the door, and there, staring at me with loppy eyes, was the waxwork of a seriously unattractive woman – literally warts and all. How big does your ego have to be?” Norfolk, Part 1, Things Go Well
One wonders about Sarah’s motive for having this wax effigy made of her, for she must have known that she was no beauty. Each of us seeks immortality in our own way, some through our children, others through good deeds, inventions, or extraordinary talents. Sarah had the monetary means to make sure that her days on this earth would not soon be forgotten.
Sarah Hare
Time takes its toll on wax effigies, however. Judith Dore and Monica Dance restored Sarah’s effigy in 1987, a procedure they described in an article “The Saving of Sarah Hare.” Their abstract states:
“The wax surface was cleaned with a mild soap to remove dirt; cracking was stopped by lining of the head with an open weave material dipped in molten wax. A thin layer of water colour was then applied to give a more life-like appearance. For the costume, a highly skilled conservationist was required as it was in such bad condition. The cabinet housing the effigy was damaged and rodents had gained access and eaten part of the costume. General condition, cleaning and restoration of the costume is described in a report enclosed with this article. The cabinet was also repaired.”
Sarah Hare’s spirit can rest easy for another couple of centuries, content in the knowledge that her image has been preserved for generations to come.
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Thanks for this Vic. It was very interesting. That wax figure is very life-like.
Creepy wax figure! Good Post!
Thanks for this interesting post. That’s a striking wax figure and somewhat creepy too!
This was quite interesting, but I must say your quotes from the “Wartime Housewife” blogger and to a lesser extent Simon Knott really angered me. While I could agree with YOUR assessment of Sarah Hare as “not very pretty,” THEIR terms “terrifying” and “seriously unattractive” seem excessive. And would the blogger you quoted (WH) have considered the act of ordering the effigy less egotistical, more justifiable if Sarah had been beautiful, I wonder?
It’s interesting to speculate on Sarah Hare’s motivation: she must have suspected that she would be quickly forgotten after her unremarkable life, but unlike so many, decided to do something about it! I’m glad you mentioned her charitable bequests to the poor, too.
I agree with you 100%.
So glad you commented on this, have been trying to recall this lady all day and finally found her, only to be irritated by thoughtless bloggers banging on about her looks. At least this demonstrates that it was possible back then for a woman to value herself on something other than her appearance. Good on you Sarah, you sock it to the WAGs and their clones!
By the way, I think the warts you refer to are something to do with the waxwork rotting?
People are still talking about her, still making her picture, after 250 years. I doubt that anyone will remember most of us even 1/4 of that time. She’s not remembered for her infamous acts. She was considerate enough to leave some compensation for the men who would bury her and for those who would mourn her.
As for her being unattractive, everyday I see people that I would consider to be less attractive than Sarah. I would never think about making rude remarks about them. I hope they don’t make any about me.
Good night:That’s really interesting post, althought, it be a morbid vision, we can see frozen past in that Sara Hare’s face…. I wonder what she was thinking when she was there, frozen, posing for her sculptor. That can bring a lot thoughts. It’s a great material for the study of a historian.
What an absolutely fantastic article about someone in history who just wanted to be remembered. I think we all have that feeling inside, we want to know that we mattered, that our time on earth made a difference or that our small voice in our lifetime was heard. Poor Sarah, she found a way to take care of that all by herself.
This is one of the most bizarre remembrances I have witnessed. The concept of “beauty” was not the same as ours today at the time it was made! Most people didn’t have all their teeth and didn’t have the same standards of hygiene we do for one thing. She did make her mark in history regardless of the motivation.
Adele could play her in the film version.
Are you being a bit vile here?
Intriguing!
I am very intrigued by what appears to be the bruising of her face; were effigies generally painted free-hand, or was the body of the model (post mortem) used as a reference?
Excellent post, your blog teaches me something new every day!
Josephine, I think that in this instance an attempt was made to make Sarah appear as she was in real life, not after death. Good question.
I also live in Richmond and came across this article and images in my research. An artist who uses encaustic wax as a medium, I am currently researching the history of figurative wax sculpture for a lecture. With your permission, I would love to use this story and image in my lecture. Susanne.
Susanne, please email me at janeaustensworld at gee male dot com.
Riveting read, thankyou.
I think the image mostly looks creepy because of the dirt and decay on the face and chest. If we encountered her today I think she’d be an attractive woman of a certain age – she has nice big eyes and curling dark hair. It’s a very strange story, like the 18th c. man who had himself buried upside down. The past is another country…
I think she’s actually quite pretty
I think this is fascinating, and I also think she’s rather attractive.
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I don’t find her image horrifying at all. Beauty is subjective.