Victorian Currier Mourning Lithograph with Hair

Mourning lithographs to memorialize loved ones were popular throughout the 1800s and early 1900s.  There were two major players in the mourning lithograph business, Currier and Kellogg.  The example we have is an exceptional hand tinted print from Nathaniel Currier ca. 1846.  This print was made almost 11 years before Ives became a partner changing the company name to the more well-known Currier and Ives. 

This particular print features two mourners seated next to a large gravestone with the inscription "Sacred to the Memory of" with the names Bruno Friedrich Born Altenburg Saxony July 14 1835, Died Detroit MI 1836.  The second name inscribed is for Henriette Friedrich Born St Louis Nov 20, 1838, Died Lebanon Ill. Sept 6 1840.  This print features a church in the background and weeping willows framing the print.  The bottom of the print is marked with the Currier name and address.

Perhaps the most unusual element about this framed print is the inclusion of two small locks of hair to memorialize the two names inscribed on the grave stone.  While it is getting harder to find these lithographs, its particularly rare to find them with hair.  We attempted to find information about the family on ancestry but unfortunately came up short.

The print is framed in a lovely walnut frame with a gold gilt interior border.  This frame has been reworked at some point by a framing company in Media PA.