Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Exceptional Post-Mortem Photographs

(Above) A very fine and poignant 1/6th plate ambrotype on amethyst glass shows a dead little girl with ring curls holding a single tinted rose. She is posed against a variety of patterned fabrics and wears a polka dot dress. Housed in a 1/2 leather case.

(Above) A sad 1/6th plate ambrotype on ruby glass shows a dead little girl propped up in a chair. Click image for larger view.

(Above) Startling postmortem of a young woman wearing a white dress in a white satin lined coffin. She has small flowers placed in her hair and each hand. A rosary and bible are placed in her right hand and a wedding band can be seen on her left hand. She is young and possibly a newlywed. Click image for larger view.

(Above) A very nice 1/6th plate postmortem tintype of a man in an early diamond shape coffin. A large black bow-tie is tied around his neck. Click image for larger view.


(Above) An unusual post-mortem photo of a young boy, placed in a sitting position as if asleep. Photograph by G. W. Barnes of Rockford, IL, circa 1890. Click image for larger view.

(Above) Back of cabinet card, highly decorated which was typical of the genre. Click image for larger view.


POST-MORTEM PHOTOGRAPHS were quite common in the 19th century, but the practice is less common today. All of these photos are exceptional examples that have been sold (but some may still be available) from one photo dealer on eBay.

Be sure and click on images for a larger view.

4 comments:

Maureen said...

Odd, this is the third post on this topic I've seen recently, it's an eerie coincidence.

John Foster said...

Hmmm, maybe it's because of the wave of recent public deaths. Don't know.

Maureen said...

There's a woman named Laurie who has 2 sites that are related that you might like to take a look at. They are The Graveyard Detective, and Creating Pictures In My Mind.

Frank said...

ummm, this is a coincidence. A little trackback for you, John.
http://savevsdeath.blogspot.com/2009/06/remember-dead.html

The book Wisconsin Death Trip brought post-mortem photography to my attention. Thanks for sharing your finds! Great blog!

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