In this highly personal self-portrait made with human hair, Mary Anne Harvey Bonnell depicted herself at her embroidery hoop, illustrating her passion for stitching as key to her self-fashioning as an artist. In addition to using the hair of her close friends, whose names are listed on the back of the object’s frame, Bonnell also included a strand of hair from the recently opened tomb of England’s King Edward IV (1442–1483). Located in Bonnell’s needle in the self-portrait—taking the pride of place—this strand reveals Bonnell’s interest in history and archaeological excavations.