Memorial Lettering 1865

1865 gravestone letteringI have had this gravestone in my garden for a long long time. It was given to me by a neighbor who was helping clean out another neighbor’s garage (who was an antiques dealer) after his death and found this. No one wanted it so naturally he thought of me, because I just have that kind of garden.

This baby’s gravestone doesn’t even include a first name, just initials, the family name and the day of the death. But there are beautiful spirals and leaves and flowers on both sides.

gravestone flourishAesthetically I love this carving work because it is done in the old style of stone carving, by hand, all curves and the mark of the hand. Modern day gravestones are usually sandblasted,which means when you look in the letter, it goes straight back from the surface, at 90 degrees, if that makes any sense.

gravestone lettering detailI don’t of course know where this baby is buried but the memory of his or her very short life is remembered in my garden, part of the earth to which this child was returned. Why I came to have this stone is a bit of a mystery to me but I take it a reminder of all the different kinds of harvest there are, and that for all the bounty of life, something must die so that something else can live.

Memorial gravestone 1865

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  • Carol 09/01/2009, 3:50 am

    So good to know that this little headstone ended up in such good hands in a garden where it is loved.

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