Staten Island Advance/Irving SilversteinThe subject of this 18th-century portrait is an already established citizen who can afford the latest style of dress and a flowing wig. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.

For the real 18th-century women who wore such styles, the process of having one's hair made up might not be described in quite those terms. Wigs first became popular for men, not women.

As Casey observes: “From the meagre materiaåls of lime, gypsum, sand, water and animal hair, a band of provincial craftsmen of varying vintage and skill crafted interiors in Britain and Ireland ...

This late 18th-century hair bracelet found in the New Orleans Museum of Art's collection with an attached portrait miniature is an exquisite example of this handcraft often associated with women.

The decorative arts have so often been sidelined by art historians—especially architectural historians—but Christine Casey’s revelatory book, Making Magnificence: Architects, Stuccatori and ...