When I visited Mount Auburn, I was surprised by the number of 19th-century stones that reused 17th- and 18th-century imagery.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1OLO-Yqz4EYue6cDNYLpF4kVu8xPENWGcsrxKIQycdHZBRaVVhYlTms0098cmNmBfH8i-ozAtE0SAEe2dzPSs4uc-PbEkGn3KCYj1G0cacwyOtHWzdBAZ9bCQNkDsNMbaW0q9ehzRQXQ/s400/DSC_5301.JPG)
The most elaborate example of this trend is the
James Russell Lowell/Maria White/Frances Dunlap stone (1891), which copies images from several different colonial-era stones.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qqKujBE3gDTcPAxD_jGPO0nQdgO1VCHInqrniL5g4kAO0lZ9bBaqiTiefYNoT_nuXLM5JD-xOEAFOjX7-8YumNrJFv0J3TVGeZvYEolpPT_ypmiHg03z0-9gBDNsfzw-bj11kl_7soA/s400/DSC_5371_2.JPG)
The faces on the finials resemble faces that appear on several Cambridge stones, including the Elizabeth Hastings stone (1702). The jowls, almond-shaped eyes, flowing hair, and thin nose all match. The death's head on the
lunette is simplified, but is similar to the lunette design on the Jonathan Wyeth stone (1743).
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsmsn0Lr097WWTt4C2o4EFHFegGBZc06YsKwBtgqHM8pfracl262r4CWXfFjmMWnMZDOrn65R5idHmmiV7-cMAaiL-eObnX7C_KNhiM_GhzCOsoGdm5IecvxQ1a1zT1_Fx9Z90lwwiqhg/s400/DSC_5354_2.JPG)
While the flowers on the Wyeth stone are
5-petaled rather than 4-petaled, the shape of the skull and wings are similar to those on the Lowell lunette. Other design elements, such as the
fig/gourd/breasts on the vertical borders, are common to many early Massachusetts gravestones.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwTPkPRGDmTZ3CDrwLvzC4A4RBZ9oZmnjVnc3G-bxU5B10z1znSuU6VCGFs6TnRb224zAhhGiZ0ws_S1LBpI0zchmFae_nyaxjToS92aceHRHkq_Zq4Z7CQlekw80fI-B02JhnUmwqjL4/s400/DSC_5365.JPG)
The crossed bones and hourglass are also common, and are often combined in Cambridge stones, such as the Susanna Staesy stone (1702).
As a professor at Harvard, Lowell would have passed by the Unitarian Universalist Church and its graveyard on a daily basis. The gravestones must have appealed to Lowell, whose interest in literature and history is well known.
I don't know why James Russell Lowell chose to have such an unusual gravestone carved for him, but I suspect it had something to do with establishing his authenticity as a genuine New Englander. In the late 19th century, as immigrants and industry changed the social and cultural dynamics of Boston, the old fashioned New Englandy-ness of the stones in the Unitarian graveyard must have appealed to Lowell as an expression of that dying culture. I'm just speculating here - someone who is more familiar with Lowell's work could probably offer a more informed interpretation. For now, I'm going to assume that regional/cultural pride or nostalgia played some role, but I'll have to investigate further.
There are a few other stones at Mount Auburn that preserve colonial motifs. Most are just tripartite slate stones with faux-colonial floral designs along the borders. Only a very few have colonial lunette designs, but those that do are beautiful.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCq3gYjt38b8aSEwB3EQKMniYz2GRiOPq-CE5B0qNaSxixfOFqwIGLDXCuWdL3nKa1ks2P4xBu3efR_ajTEvLW_asCPbi8m1TxqZXdPEu04fpGASi7ZxIiyvUtnh8_OiKu0DcO4rlzG7I/s400/DSC_5313.JPG)
One of these is the Henry Howard Brown/Hannah Bangs Thayer stone (1941). The double mermaid appears on at least three stones in the Copp's Hill Burying Ground — the Michael Martyn stone (1682), the
William Greenough stone (1693), and the
John Briggs stone (c. 1690) — though none of these has the winged hourglass above the urn. There are also two double mermaid stones — Jacob Eliott (1693) and Benjamin Hill (1683) — at the Granary Burying Ground in Boston. The bulls-eye design on the urn is very similar to the concentric circles on the William Greenough stone. Ludwig attributes the 17th-century stones to the unnamed carver, "J.N." (Ludwig, 299). He calls the creatures
Dagons and
Nereids, but is unable to explain how they ended up on Puritan gravestones. I don't have any better guesses than he did.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiquFRslniwW77gKr7HgcuW1i9UHzcu_K8SKKUX6GwQTnRqUfHJTNDusPzWqcUVZL52J-1aFlwaEa3t7GeLEcJ7ae8_kKWLMO8Rg_DGrHS-2GXBdHWFJe59H-ZnHeg2JSfGWF2cPIJlAFc/s400/DSC_5315.JPG)
The other elaborate gravestone is the Thomas Earle White stone (1916), which features a winged hourglass. The winged hourglass isn't a very common design for a full lunette - it's usually a smaller design element, but there are some examples of larger hourglasses. The
William Field stone (1772) in Providence has a full winged hourglass, but it is more primitive than the White stone. I'll have to keep my eyes open for a similar stone in Boston.
1 comment:
Thanks for "Colonial Revival." Very interesting. I enjoy taking photos of unique older mausoleums, statues / monuments, and interesting headstones. I live in MA and would love to photo some earlier head stones (flight of time and morbidity symbols). If your interested I have photos of an old cemetery in Worcester, MA called Hope Cemetery. Very nice place.
http://swansod.zenfolio.com/p200705429/
Dana
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