The Art and Architecture of Death
A typical zinc monument in most respects, except that it bears no inscriptions other than the name “STEWART” on the base. Instead, the various Stewarts have individual stone markers. Since one of the attractions of a zinc monument was that it could bear a number of inscriptions, thus saving the expense of individual markers, we suspect that there may have been a Stewart family argument over the Stewart family plot.
A miniature Doric temple with “Christ is risen” in blackletter (with quotation marks) to Christianize it. There are inscriptions for death dates back to 1865, but from the style Father Pitt would date this monument much later—perhaps 1914, which is the earliest date after the 1860s.
These matching monuments have been a little damaged by time, but still make an impressive pair. Mary’s has a profile vignette that looks as though it is meant for a portrait of the deceased. Small as it is, it is a fine piece of work.
In Memory of
SAMUEL STEWART
who departed this life
March 25, 1855,
Aged 74 years
6 mos & 3 days.
MARY STEWART
Consort of
SAMUEL STEWART
who — — —death
— — from — —
Sept. the 2, 1842,
In the 61st year
of her age
Father Pitt was not able to read the entire inscription. In fact Mary’s monument is covered with inscriptions on all sides, most of which seem from the form of them to be poems or hymns, but which have been made illegible by the gradual erosion of the marble. We can, however, read the signature of the artist: “Ed. WILKINS PITT.”
On the back of the monument is another profile, smaller and much more eroded than the one on the front:
Father Pitt suspects that it may represent a son who died in childhood.