The Loch and other styles of abundant beard were argued by some during the beard heyday of the mid 1800s to have health benefits: they kept the face and neck protected from the elements, and had the effect of filtering out disease-causing dust or pollutants. ‘Why shave?’ asked an essay published by Charles Dickens in 1853, when it was nothing but ‘a painful, vexatious and ... actually unwholesome custom.’
The National Portrait Gallery is temporarily closed to the public until further notice.
