Mourning Pin

Unidentified, Mourning Pin, 1790s, watercolor, mother of pearl, and metal on ivory, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mary Elizabeth Spencer, 1999.27.79
Copied Unidentified, Mourning Pin, 1790s, watercolor, mother of pearl, and metal on ivory, image (oval): 2 11⁄16 x 2 1⁄4 in. (6.8 x 5.7 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mary Elizabeth Spencer, 1999.27.79
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Mourning Pin
Artist
Unidentified
Date
1790s
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
image (oval): 2 11⁄16 x 2 1⁄4 in. (6.8 x 5.7 cm)
Credit Line
Bequest of Mary Elizabeth Spencer
Mediums
Mediums Description
watercolor, mother of pearl, and metal on ivory
Classifications
Keywords
  • Landscape
  • State of being — emotion — sorrow
  • Figure female — full length
  • Monument — tomb
  • Primitive — mourning
  • Primitive — mourning
  • Religion — angel
Object Number
1999.27.79
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1999.27.79

Artwork Description

Miniature paintings memorializing a friend or family member grew popular in the nineteenth century when the death of Prince Albert sent Queen Victoria into deep mourning. A name and death date on a locket, pin, or ring marked the passing of a loved one, and artists sometimes mixed a lock of the deceased person’s hair in with the pigment. The paintings often showed the bereaved person next to a tomb or cinerary urn, as in Mourning Locket for A. R. and Mourning Ring, and sometimes included symbols of grieving such as a dove or weeping willow.