Pittsburgh Cemeteries

The Art and Architecture of Death

Lina B. Nickel mourner

A family plot of matching graves that is missing one important tenant, or at least the inscription for him.

Nickel family plot

Lina B. Nickel

Lina B. Nickel, who died in 1916 at the age of 29 or 30, is buried here under an inscription identifying her as “MY WIFE.” But the matching headstone is blank, suggesting that Mr. Nickel (whose name was almost certainly William; see below) is not buried here. A husband in mourning might think that of course he would never marry again and would be buried next to his late wife when he died, but a year or two or five go by, and he begins to take a more realistic view of the rest of his life. Or it is quite possible that the whole matching set was ordered when the two sons died in 1912.

Mourner

A standard flower-dropping mourner. The wrists are always a weak point in this design.

William and John Nickel

Two young sons, William Jr. and John, died in 1912, very probably of the same childhood disease. From the name William Jr. we can deduce the father’s name.

Angel

This angel might also have been dropping flowers, as we can guess from its downward gaze and the eroded bouquet.

Face and wings

Statue on the Graham monument

Father Pitt thinks this picture of mourning and consolation (no one seems to know who the sculptor was) is one of the finest things in the cemetery, and fall colors add much to the effect.

This statue of a wreath-bearing mourner looks more contemplative as she weathers into abstraction.

Both the mausoleum and the statue on top are identical to the Braun mausoleum in the South Side Cemetery, suggesting that the mausoleum and statue came as a set. This one is missing its bronze doors.

The mausoleum and statue are both stock items, but good ones, although the mausoleum does give the impression of having been assembled from a kit of mass-produced parts.

This mausoleum and its stone mourner are doubtless both standard catalogue items. But they are picturesque, and much more so because of the deep blackness of the stone. Most stone buildings in Pittsburgh used to look like this, but few of them have escaped cleaning.

The other thing that makes the mausoleum stand out, of course, is the delightful name “Sunshine” over the door.