Mourning Locket for A. R.

Unidentified, Mourning Locket for A. R., ca. 1780, watercolor on ivory, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Edmund Bury, 1938.7.1
Copied Unidentified, Mourning Locket for A. R., ca. 1780, watercolor on ivory, sight 1 5878 in. (4.02.2 cm) lozenge, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Edmund Bury, 1938.7.1
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Mourning Locket for A. R.
Artist
Unidentified
Date
ca. 1780
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sight 1 5878 in. (4.02.2 cm) lozenge
Credit Line
Gift of Edmund Bury
Mediums
Mediums Description
watercolor on ivory
Classifications
Keywords
  • State of being — emotion — sorrow
  • Figure female — full length
  • Monument — tomb
  • Landscape — tree — willow tree
  • Primitive — mourning
Object Number
1938.7.1

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 for William Burnside, and sometimes included symbols of grieving such as a dove or weeping willow.