Post-mortem image with a quilt

[markj]

Greetings,

Some of you quilters may be interested in this.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3284111246&category=13712

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Post-mortem image with a quilt

I'm not a terribly avid quilter yet (I like the quilting, dread the piecing)--but does anyone more knowledgable see any particular pattern to the blocks?

(I've saved the image, so we may be able to get hold of it after the auction is gone.)

[markmason]

Re: Post-mortem image with a quilt

Ok.. I think we have reached a new plateu now. The poor soul is laying there stiff as a 16p nail and were studying the quilt patterns. Now thats research. :tounge_sm

Nice beard too..

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Post-mortem image with a quilt

:)

It is a bit morbid of us, isn't it?

He does have good whiskers--totally different topic, but how frequent was the "clean upper lip, fringe beneath" sartorial splendor? I know some religious folks who wore it, but beyond that, is it something you see a lot on men in images? (I'm usually looking at infants, children, and women.)

I'm just getting into quilting, so I'm more-than-normally aware of different patterns, I think. LOL

[Drygoods]

Re: Post-mortem image with a quilt

I don't find this subject morbid at all. In fact, I'd like to mention an excellent new book that has just about every single article of daily life related to mourning in a new book called "Mourning Art And Jewelry" by Maureen Delorme. It is a fantastic book and has over 550+ images of related mourning art....indeed it is the most complete study of mourning history out there today. Cost is $60. I have a copy of this book and find it an invaluable resource. The author had such a large collection to put into the book that the publisher asked that it be "trimmed" and cut 350 images and 275 pages of text.
Postmortem images, as well as funeral quilts were a common item during the CW period. Not only would special casket covers be made, but also other decorative covers for furniture, mirrors, and bedding. Mourning quilts would also incorporate the various fabrics of the four stages of mourning. This is a part of history that most people do not feel comfortable talking about, however, it was such a common subject during the 19th Century that everyone knew the customs practically as though by second nature.
Mfr,
Judith Peebles

[KarinTimour]

Re: Post-mortem image with a quilt

Dear Elizabeth:

You wrote:

totally different topic, but how frequent was the "clean upper lip, fringe beneath" sartorial splendor? I know some religious folks who wore it, but beyond that, is it something you see a lot on men in images?

It shows up remarkably often in images of Abraham Lincoln.....hee,hee,hee!

And I've been looking at photos of dead folks for a very long time -- there was a book that came out once called "Wisconsin Death Trip" which was a compilation of old glass plates, that had been discovered in the back of a store or something with obituaries and stories of terrible train wrecks. I think the images were mostly after our period, but a large number of them were post-mortum photos.......

Karin Timour
"The Stories Behind the Socks" National Conference on Women and the Civil War, Richmond, VA, June, 2004
Period Knitting -- Socks, Hats, Balaclavas
Atlantic Guard Soldiers' Aid Society
Email: Ktimour@aol.com

[Emmanuel Dabney]

Re: Post-mortem image with a quilt

Re: Clean upper lip, below bottom lip facial hair.

I looked through a collection of digital images from eBay and I found eight on my computer which had men who had no upper lip hair, but below bottom lip hair. So Abe and religious people weren't the only ones who sported them, one is a leatherworker late 40's/early 50's occupational dag.

[Drygoods]

Re: Post-mortem image with a quilt

I think that style of facial hair was more common during the late 1840s and 1850s. It shows up most often with men who wear a trencher beard. That style of beard is worn cut very close to the bottom of the chin leaving a shaven face. It's really a nice style and hasn't been worn up until recently. I've seen a few men sporting a trencher but doubt it will become a huge modern fad.
Mfr,
Judith Peebles

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Post-mortem image with a quilt

Having chin wiskers was not terribly uncommon. Some men cannot grow hair on their upper lips, and some men do not like the feeling of hair on their upper lip. As Karin pointed out Lincoln and Ole Jeff Davis both had chin wiskers.

Post motems still facinate and creep me out.

[crabby]

Re: Post-mortem image with a quilt

Hi,
I am not familiar with this book ( "Mourning Art And Jewelry" by Maureen Delorme) but it sounds very interesting. I have done a bit of research on mourning customs but have never seen a reference to funeral or mourning quilts. Does the above book mention them? Do you have other sources for further info I could check into? Another book I have used for mourning displays is, "Sleeping Beauty" (sorry but I do not have the authors name) a good source for post-mortem photography. I agree that this is a subject that causes some discomfort to our society but all the more reason we provide education on it.

Sincerely,
Beth Crabb

[Drygoods]

Re: Post-mortem image with a quilt

Dear Beth,

Sleeping Beauty was written by Dr. Stanley Burns. I do believe that he has written two books on the subject of post mortem photography. I am certain that you will enjoy the Mourning Art & Jewelry book that I mentioned as it has far more in-depth detail than any other mourning book currently on the market.
The amazing thing is that when I spoke to the author, every advance copy was immediately sold and people are waiting for backorders. It is a fantastic book and the new material that it has generated since it has been published tells that this is a subject far more popular than most would understand. The author is currently working on a new book relating more with consolation books of the period.
Mfr,
Judith Peebles

[Beth Crabb]

Re: Post-mortem image with a quilt

Dear Ms. Peebles,
In your previous post you indicated "Postmortem images as well as funeral quilts were a common item during the CW period." and "Mourning quilts would also incorporate the various fabrics of the four stages of mourning."
This made me very curious as I have never seen any primary sources reference either of these. Modern quilt books do mention them but tend to be vague about the time period and the sources of their imformation. Do you have specific info? Especially on the quilt with fabrics of the 4 stages of mourning. I would very much like to research this further for an upcoming program.

Thank you,
Beth Crabb

[Drygoods]

Re: Post-mortem image with a quilt

Hello Beth,

Yes, it seems that mourning or memorial quilts were not uncommon, although I think that many of them might have been reused as a batting in later quilts due to the uncomfortable subject matter and need for materials.
Probably the most popular mourning quilt that jumps to mind is one in Ky that was made by a woman who had a cemetary with fence in the center that had the names of family members coffins outside on the boarder of the quilt. As each member passed on, the coffin was moved into the cemetary. If I had a quilt book on hand at the moment, I'd name it for you but the book is at work.
I'm sure that special coffin covers or mourning quilts were made for those fallen during the CW era. Sometimes if you're lucky you will see them sold on ebay, but they are pricey. Another source would be to search online at private antique quilt dealers.
Mfr,
Judith Peebles

[KarinTimour]

Re: Post-mortem image with a quilt

Dear Beth:

I wasn't certain whether your question was "were there mourning quilts?" or "were there mourning quilts made from 'the four colors of mourning?'"

Certainly the custom of mourning or memorial quilts pre-dates our time period and went quite a few years after it. They are commonly made even today. In fact, the Names Project (better known as the AIDS Quilt) is an international project collecting memorial quilts made in the current day in memory of people who have died of AIDS.

Beth if you are looking for references on quilts made in someone's memory, there are references and pictures of at least a few in "Shared Threads: Quilting Together Past and Present" by Jaqueline Markx Atkins and "hearts and Hands: Women, Quilts and American Society" by Elaine Hedges, Pat Ferrero and Julie Silber.

Judith, there probably is more than one "coffin quilt" with the little coffins moving to the graveyard as people die, but the one I'm familiar with is the Elizabeth Roseberry Mitchell Graveyard Quilt which is in the collection of the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort, Kentucky. An excellent book about this quilt and the family of Elizabeth Roseberry Mitchell is "Elizabeth Roseberry Mitchell's Graveyard Quilt: An American Pioneer Saga" by Lina Otto Lipsett.

Many memorial quilts incorporated pieces of the clothing of the deceased, as did the Mitchell graveyard quilt, which references several blue calico pieces from the dresses of one of the dead Mitchell daughters. Also included were brown calico, pink, red (for red roses on the "paths" to the graveyard in the center of the quilt), as well as unbleached muslin. "Shared Threads" mentions incorporating mourning ribbons worn by the mourners into quilts, but I've not seen a reference to a quilt made only of the four colors of mourning.

Sincerely,
Karin Timour
"Stories in the Socks" Conference on Women in the Civil War, Richmond, Virginia, June 2004
Period Knitting -- Socks, Hats, Balaclavas
Atlantic Guard Soldiers' Aid Society
Email: Ktimour@aol.com

[Drygoods]

Re: Post-mortem image with a quilt

Dear Friends,

I know at times, I am not the most clear when I am trying to describe something so I hope that this explanation below will help. What I was trying to say in my first message was that you will find fabrics of the colors of the four stages of mourning in memorial/mourning quilts.

Mourning quilts included all types of mourning fabrics, sometimes not even black as the famous Ohio Mourning Quilt for example. OR some were black fabric with embroidery, usually colored thread, sometimes applique in somber colors. Since there are so few, there was really no "standard" and no "instructions" were given in ladies books. Extant examples were really unique pieces created with the woman's personal concepts in mind, with the materials she had available to her. One woman made an applique quilt out of her mourning clothing for her husband, and which included colorful applique pieces representing places and events in the life of her marriage. Most examples were simply patchwork with third-stage mourning fabrics, and some quilts are called "mourning" quilts simply because they are regular quilts which INCLUDE mourning fabrics, but are not "officially" mourning quilts but were just mourning fabrics the woman had on hand which she used up.

Coffin covers were almost always black with no other colors, unless they were English, French, and for royalty, in which case, royal colored embroideries were used. Some coffin covers for children were white with or without white embroidery [with and w/o lace], and I know of one a collector had that was white with blue embroidery. One coffin quilt I saw which I would love to duplicate someday was an applique quilt in wool with obelisk tombstones around the border with the central part plain; this part would have been on top of the coffin, with the tombstones in shades of gray around the border which would have hung down along the sides and ends of the coffin.

Neither quilts nor covers followed the stages of mourning that existed in clothing. There were no set rules for quilts, simply put, you will find colors matching or taken from mourning clothing and placed into the quilt or coffin covers. I will take a look over the condolence books of that time and try to see if I can find some direct quotes to include in this thread.

Again, you must remember to say 'never say never'.....because once you make a point in saying they never did something, someone will have that absolute proof item that proves that you have made a contradition in history. Private collectors often have the advantage as they often find those lovely rarites that would help us with our history research. In any case, I will keep digging and see what I can find and will continue to post my results if there is continued interest in the subject. Again, I'm not an 'official expert', just someone who loves history and enjoys sharing my research. Quilt experts may have a different view than mine. Can anyone here identify the quilt pattern in that post-mortem image?

Mfr,
Judith Peebles