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@chriswoodyard.bsky.social Sep 30, 2026, 1:25 PM

#TheVictorianBookoftheDead Spanish coffin furniture -plaque reading Descanse en Paz / Rest in Peace, c. 1900. The plaque is metal. The frame may be silvered card or pressed tin.

Silvery metal coffin plaque framed in pressed metal or silvered card foliage and ribbons set with several rhinestones. Reads Descanse en Paz / Rest in Peace.

@chriswoodyard.bsky.social Sep 30, 2026, 1:19 PM

#TheVictorianBookoftheDead A leading coffin manufacturer shares the fear of a collapse of the nation’s general prosperity. He gravely asserts that his own industry is already virtually dead....
thevictorianbookofthedead.wordpress.com/2026/09/30/a...

Advertisement for Coffins! Coffins! Coffins! We now have in stock and will continue to keep, a complete line of Coffins and Burial Caskets. Our stock embraces ALL SIZES AND QUALITIES. From the plain, cheap Coffin up to the handsome Metallic Cases. Call and see us or send us your order when so unfortunate as to have a death in your family. Prices within the reach of all. Lancaster Mercantile Co. Lancaster, 8.C., Oct, 23, '02.--if.

@chriswoodyard.bsky.social Sep 29, 2026, 11:48 AM

#TheVictorianBookoftheDead #WorldHeartDay
Standing heart funeral flower arrangement and an illustration of the kind of wire frame used to make such arrangements. c. 1882 Moss was stuffed between the grids and flowers were inserted into it and kept damp by the moss.

A standing heart in white, edged with darker flowers. the words "State Officials" are on the legs of the heart, which has a dark ribbon bow at its tip.

@chriswoodyard.bsky.social Sep 29, 2026, 11:27 AM

#TheVictorianBookoftheDead #WorldHeartDay
Mourning brooch with hair locket framed in pearls, engraved H.W. Knipe/Obt 1 Jany/1826.
www.bonhams.com/auctions/245...

A mourning brooch, the heart-shaped plaque glazed to reveal a lock of fair hair, within a surround of half-pearls.

@chriswoodyard.bsky.social Sep 28, 2026, 2:08 PM

#BattleoftheSomme
The aftermath of the Battle of Thiepval Ridge, 26-28 September, 1916, painted by William Orpen
artsandculture.google.com/asset/thiepv...
#TheVictorianBookoftheDead

Painting titled Thiepval by William Orpen, aftermath of the Battle of Thiepval Ridge. Under a blue sky with scattered white and pink clouds, the ground is littered in debris, including human skulls, bones, tools, masonry, and items of clothing. A large rock-like structure--perhaps a church spire fragment--stands in the centre background.

@chriswoodyard.bsky.social Sep 28, 2026, 2:03 PM

#TheVictorianBookoftheDead A winsome depiction of "the latest form of mourning bonnet is shown here. It was black silk nuns veiling, with a white ruche in front. A deep border of crape edged the veil, which was in one with the material that draped the bonnet’s wire frame." 1899

Fashion drawing in black and white of a pretty young woman facing the viewer, wearing a mourning bonnet with a "widow's peak" and a long, crape-edged veil.

@chriswoodyard.bsky.social Sep 27, 2026, 2:19 PM

#TheVictorianBookoftheDead First Burial Shoes Were Made In Decatur "Putting a shoe on the foot of a corpse is a difficult task." Mr Bixby, a coffin salesman, had an idea for an easy-to-adjust burial shoe that looked like fashionable footwear.
thevictorianbookofthedead.wordpress.com/2020/12/09/b...

A black and white photo of a woman's shoe or slipper with a French heel and ruched trim around the top and sides, trimmed with a satin bow. Caption reads "One of the lace trimmed French heel burial shoes."

@chriswoodyard.bsky.social Sep 27, 2026, 2:10 PM

#TheVictorianBookoftheDead White satin burial shoes with laces at the heels for ease of putting on the foot.
Former eBay listing.

Back of white satin burial shoes, with satin-covered heels and laces on the heels to facilitate putting on the foot.

White satin burial shoes with long narrow toes, showing holes for ribbons to fasten the shoes in front and laces on the heel to facilitate putting the shoe on the foot.

Side view of white satin burial shoe with long narrow toe and satin-covered heel, the laces on the heel to facilitate putting the shoe on the foot.

@chriswoodyard.bsky.social Sep 27, 2026, 2:06 PM

#TheVictorianBookoftheDead Black silk and wool mourning dress, c. 1900-1910. Silk covered with thin black wool. Black crepe-de-chine at the neck. Interesting pattern of chevron tucking on skirt and bodice.
sokisamlingar.sormlandsmuseum.se

Black mourning dress with flared skirt trimmed with a chevron pattern of tucks. The chevron pattern is echoed on the bodice. High neck and long sleeves.

@chriswoodyard.bsky.social Sep 26, 2026, 3:44 PM

#TheVictorianBookoftheDead 1882 bad pun.
John G. Ehring, of Utica, made a wager that he could drink two quarts of whisky at a sitting. He did so, and died in a few hours. It’s always well to deal gently with the Ehring.
This was reported (without the last sentence) as real news in many papers.

Whisky glass etched with a skull and crossbones inside a sinuous Art Nouveau frame.

@chriswoodyard.bsky.social Sep 26, 2026, 3:37 PM

#TheVictorianBookoftheDead Bad bodysnatching pun, 1873
Resurrectionists are at work in Poughkeepsie grave yards and the inhabitants are in a tombult.

The Resurrectionists, William Strang, 1898
www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-arti...

A sepia image of two men dragging the shrouded, hatted body of an old man out of a grave with a rope around the neck. A spade and stick line in the foreground.

@chriswoodyard.bsky.social Sep 23, 2026, 3:05 PM

#TheVictorianBookoftheDead 19th c. wheeled bier with the "Parish Coffin," dating from 1664. Paupers would be put in the coffin for transport to the graveside, then buried in a woollen shroud and the coffin re-used.
Saltmarshe Chantry of Howden Minster.
Richard Croft / Pauper's coffin

Wheeled bier with reddish body and black wire wheels with white rims. There is a metal railing on each side and a metal handle. A rough wooden coffin with round iron handles sits on the bier. A stone wall and filing cabinets can be seen in the background.

@chriswoodyard.bsky.social Sep 23, 2026, 2:58 PM

#TheVictorianBookoftheDead Poor Man's Hearse / Corbillard du pauvre, Victor-Jean Adam, c. 1841-44
www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/coll...

Poor man's hearse showing an open wagon with two shrouded coffins lying across it and a canvas roof with a cross. A driver in a cocked hat guides the two horses pulling it. A man and two children walk behind the hearse.

@chriswoodyard.bsky.social Sep 23, 2026, 2:54 PM

#TheVictorianBookoftheDead Why Funerals are Not Hurried in the Poorer Districts: 1870-1906 '“No money, no funeral,” was the undertaker’s motto, so the baby uncoffined, but shrouded in a sheet, was left in the cupboard...'
thevictorianbookofthedead.wordpress.com/2026/09/23/w...

Brownish image entitled The Wake, showing a crowded room full of people in hooded cloaks around a coffin. A man stands with upraised hands beside the coffin, several women weep beside it.

@chriswoodyard.bsky.social Sep 22, 2026, 12:46 PM

The Ride of Death / #Autumn and Death, Arnold Böcklin, 1871

www.sammlung.pinakothek.de/en/artwork/a...
#TheVictorianBookoftheDead #AutumnalEquinox

A painting of a stormy landscape with orange leaves blowing off the trees, a grey, clouded sky. Several white buildings in the background while Death, a skeletal figure, on a black stallion, rides along a stony lane.

@chriswoodyard.bsky.social Sep 22, 2026, 12:37 PM

Happy #Autumn! Dance of Autumn/Taniec Jesieni, Piotr Stachiewicz, 1917
galerie-drylewicz.com/artists/202-...
#TheVictorianBookoftheDead #Autumnalequinox

A skeletal, shrouded figure of Death plays the violin while black birds circle and the leaves fall from the trees, signalling the end of summer.

@chriswoodyard.bsky.social Sep 21, 2026, 1:00 PM

#TheVictorianBookoftheDead Gothic spires and angels frame a memorial card for Walter Minney, aged 3 years and 2 months, 1876. In the lower right corner, a weeping mourner kneels by a tiny grave. The use of color to highlight the embossed details is extremely unusual.

Memorial card with a black border framed by embossed Gothic spires in ivory and pale green. Other details include an urn in a draped oval, cross-topped frame, foliage, and angels. A mourner kneels at the foot of one of the angels by a tiny grave. Text reads: In Affectionate Remembrance of Walter Minney,
The Beloved Son of Benjamin & Louisa Minney,
Who died July the 14th, 1876,
Aged 3 years and 2 months.
Dear as thou wert, and justly dear,
We will not weep for thee;
One thought shall check the starting tear:
It is that thou are free.

@chriswoodyard.bsky.social Sep 21, 2026, 12:49 PM

The worms crawl in
The worms crawl out....

#MementoMoriMonday
#TheVictorianBookoftheDead
A Memento Mori skeleton etching by Charles Grignion, 1821.
wellcomecollection.org/works/au2m2w6y

Black and white etching of a reclining skeleton with snakes emerging from its skull and bones and rats under its bent knees. Text reads: A check to pride and vanity ; My turn to-day, to-morrow yours also. Speculum miseriæ et fragilitatis humanæ ; Hodie mihi cras tibi ; C. Grignion sculp.; Bears number top right : 339.

@chriswoodyard.bsky.social Sep 20, 2026, 2:01 PM

#TheVictorianBookoftheDead Carved stone--either onyx or jet--pansy mourning brooch with a japanned or enameled stem and black bead center.

Black carved stone pansy brooch with enameled metal stem and a black bead center for the flower.

Reverse of black stone flower brooch with a scalloped gold-metal back, C-clasp pin and enamelled metal stem, part of which is rubbed back to the metal.

@chriswoodyard.bsky.social Sep 20, 2026, 1:57 PM

#TheVIctorianBookoftheDead 1909 beret-like mourning hat and veil. Worn by Wilhelmina von Hallwyl "during the mourning period for her mother, 15 April- 15 October 1909." Detailed description of construction and fabrics at the link.
emuseumplus.lsh.se/eMuseumPlus?...

Beret-like mourning hat with turned up front brim. Pinned to the hat is a sheer black silk veil with a heavier black border.