Mourning Pin for ER

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: watercolor
Mediums Description: watercolor on ivory
Classifications: Painting
Miniature
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
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/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.