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Catalog Data

Medium:
Photograph
Dimensions:
Mount: 10 1/4 × 14 in. (26 × 35.6 cm)
Photograph: 7 3/4 × 9 5/8 in. (19.7 × 24.4 cm)
Type:
Photographs
Date:
ca. 1880-1910
Period:
Victorian (1837-1901)
Description:
Mounted black and white photograph of floral tributes displayed in a cemetery. The floral set designs include a Gates Ajar, a star and pillow, a pillow with the letters IHS, a Broken Column, as well as various floral sprays. The flower arrangements are displayed on the grave mound disguised by evergreens.
Label Text:
Flower arrangements are some of the most common subject matters for memorial photographs made in the nineteenth century. Cabinet cards, stereo cards, and other photographic formats are seen depicting memorial flowers, sometimes combined with other mourning imagery, phrases, or a photograph of the deceased when alive. Simple wording such as, “our baby,” “our darling,” “brother,” “sister,” “son,” “daughter,” etc. were commonly seen surrounded by a creative still life composition made from the sympathy tributes. Having these photographs taken was affordable, and in the case of notable figures, the pictures were mass-produced for sale to the public. This type of memorial photograph was most popular between 1895 and 1910. The images were often kept by the family as remembrance of the deceased individual and the outpouring of love and sympathy received in their time of greatest loss; often made into parlor cards, openly displayed in the home, or kept in a photographic album.
Paper/Support:
Mounted on board
Topic:
photographs  Search this
cemeteries  Search this
ceremonies  Search this
decorations  Search this
ferns  Search this
Floral decorations  Search this
Flower arrangement  Search this
flowers (plants)  Search this
Funeral decorations  Search this
funerals  Search this
grave goods  Search this
graves  Search this
photography  Search this
Victoriana  Search this
Credit Line:
Smithsonian Gardens, Horticultural Artifacts Collection.
Accession number:
1999.007.002
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
See more items in:
Horticultural Artifacts Collection
Data Source:
Smithsonian Gardens
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/aq4aab6ad1e-a705-4a55-9498-1d8ebb268556
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:hac_1999.007.002