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Mourning child with a skull
Unknown - Enlarge image
Mourning child with a skull
- Object:
Statuette
- Place of origin:
England, Great Britain (made)
- Date:
1700-1720 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown (anonymous, possibly by Edward Stanton or Thomas Stayner, production)
Stanton, Edward (possibly, production)
Thomas Stayner (possibly, production) - Materials and Techniques:
Marble
- Museum number:
A.62-1938
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 56d, case WW
Object Type
This statue of a child holding a skull was made to be placed on a tomb, and to serve as a memento mori (reminder of death). This piece and its pendant, thought to represent a girl and boy respectively, were probably designed to flank the sculpted portrait of the deceased.
Materials & Making
Tombs in Britain in the 17th and 18th century were often carved from marble, or occasionally alabaster. Marble was imported, generally from Italy via The Netherlands. It was considered an appropriate material for funerary monuments, partly because of the associations with ancient Roman sculpture, and because of its supposed durability.
Subject Depicted
A long tradition of depicting symbols of death existed in west European art. The skull and the hourglass symbolised decay and the passing of time, while the sorrowing child was an allegory, albeit informal, of sorrow. Direct Christian imagery was avoided in British funerary sculpture after the Reformation, and allegory became more common.
