Under the Sheltering Boughs
SOLD September 2001 |
American quarter plate ambrotype of two children's grave, ca. 1860.
One could of course speculate endlessly about the circumstances which led to this unusual image; it may have been taken as a keepsake by a family leaving the region where two of their children had been buried, or perhaps sent to a distant relative to show them the children's final resting place. Under magnification the headstone reads "CHARLES LEWIS / Died Sept. 20, 1859 / Aged 2 years / Also his infant sister / Children of C. D. and A. J[...]", followed by lines of verse which are not legible. Lower down and closer to us is a second headstone, on which only an initial "C." is visible.
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