Customer Reviews

Mourning Art & Jewelry (Schiffer Art Books)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is without question the best book ever written on mourning jewelry, mourning customs/history and mourning art. There are a wide range of subjects discussed, from mourning jewelry to post-mortem photography to mourning clothing and even china for those in mourning! This book is an encyclopedia which reads like a novel! I was very impressed with the variety and quality of the photos in the book. The book is a great read and a great reference book!

This is the seminal and most comprehensive book on mourning art and jewelery ever written. The photography is outstanding. It gives values for the items. The author has expert knowledge in every facet of mourning covered. This publication is huge, and beautiful, and so unique. You will not regret buying this book.

There wasn't anything in the book that wasn't a joy to read. A visual delight as well. Maureen is VERY knowledgeable in the field of mourning, and her expertise shows in this wonderful book. If you love history, as I do, you will get a lot of historical facts. I wish Maureen and her book much success.

This is an outstanding book. It is filled with beautiful photographs; and is not only informative and fascinating, but quite moving. The overriding impression is the transformation of the pain and grief of loss into works of incredible beauty.

I would HIGHLY recommend this to anyone interested in mourning customs, art, clothing & jewelry; and/or history in general. Although a bit expensive, this book is worth every penny. I was simply amazed by the number and variety of items pictured, and the text often brought tears to my eyes. These were all the more poignant to me when I lost my own mother December 2004; and this book has inspired me to have a memorial piece made for her.

As I research the Victorian era I am starting to have a greater interest in their mourning culture. No one could mourn like the Victorians, that's for sure.

This book is an excellent resource that focuses on art & jewelery from the Stuart, Georgian and Victorian eras. Though I think it should be noted there are far more examples of Georgian and Victorian than Stuart.

I liked this book because it covered a number of different topics and had some amazing pictures. This is not a book that gives you pages upon pages of information. Often times the chapters are only a few pages long and at times the author does repeat herself. That being said, I haven't come across any other books that explains such a wide variety of mourning mementos.

The pictures in this book are great and the author adds her knowledge to each piece explaining why they are unique. There is also a price attributed to each picture, however the prices seem to be out of date. When I look for various items they seem to be higher now. Perhaps more people are taking an interest in mourning mementos? Or maybe antiques are just overpriced in my area?

The book is broken down into two sections. One is historical background the other Memorial art and Artifacts. There is also a translation for Latin terms and a glossary of symbols.

In the first section we have:

Death in the Middle Ages

Death in the Age of Enlightenment

Death in Colonial America

Death in the Victorian age

Mary Todd Lincoln and Queen Victoria

Death in the American Civil War

Deaths of children in 19 cent

Section II has:

Mourning clothes and ritual

Mourning jewelry

Stuart

Georgian

Victorian

Memorial paintings

Memorial photography

Framed memorials

hair work

framed memorials of other materials

painted

paper

lithographs

tokens of remembrance

pottery on glass

unique objects

mourning art among minorities

Death of mourning

Overall, I found this book very helpful. I will confess it was pricey, but I think it was worth the money. However, if you have a casual interest in mourning jewelry and art, I would suggest trying to find cheaper books or borrowing this from the library.

Excellent book for reference. It also is a really good history book. I've been very surprised at the wealth of information. In fact, my husband wants to "read" it when I'm finished.

If you want to read the best book ever written on this subject then this is the book for you!! The Author has researched in detail the history of Mourning and has included photographs that are absolutely beautiful. I saw items in this book that brought tears to my eyes. The reader will learn not only the history of Mourning, they are able to see what people wore, displayed and kept as mementos of their deceased loved ones. This is a complete book of times past. I not only recommend this book for those that study the history of this subject but for those who want to read and see the beauty and sentimentality of those that have gone before! A true experience!

Great book if you wish to know what you are buying when looking at genuine articles from the Era of the Civil War. Many people try to pass off other totally incorrect items as "Civil War" when they are not sure, so YOU must be sure before you spend your hard earned money. This research is key to saving your funds. Fun too because you can also find great buys this way. Many people will sell their inheritance items for very little as they don't think they would ever wear them, and can't understand why they should hang on to Great Great Grandmother's brooch or pendant when to their eyes it is ugly. Different, yes, ugly? No. Victorian jewelry is very chic these days and people are collecting even the costume jewelry made to copy the good pieces that the common people could not afford back then. These items are still affordable and fun to wear and own. You just have to know what to buy and what NOT to buy. This book will help a lot with that.

I had hoped this would be more than just a history book of mourning jewelry. More examples, much more, would have been the perfect "history" of what was produced during the "mourning jewelry period". I was dissappointed with this entire book.