Unidentified, Mourning Pin for ER, late 18th - early 19th century, watercolor on ivory, image (oval): 1 1⁄2 x 1 1⁄8 in. (3.8 x 2.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mary Elizabeth Spencer, 1999.27.83
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Artwork Details
- Title
- Mourning Pin for ER
- Artist
- Unidentified
- Date
- late 18th - early 19th century
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- image (oval): 1 1⁄2 x 1 1⁄8 in. (3.8 x 2.9 cm)
- Credit Line
- Bequest of Mary Elizabeth Spencer
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- watercolor on ivory
- Subjects
- Landscape — tree
- Animal — sheep
- State of being — emotion — sorrow
- Figure female — full length
- Recreation — leisure — letter reading and writing
- Primitive — mourning
- Object Number
- 1999.27.83
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.
