Gravestone Portraits of Women

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Gravestone portraits in the 18th and early 19th centuries were not generally intended to be an exact likeness of the deceased. Their function was to demonstrate to the viewer the taste and status of the deceased.

Wealthy and/or influential men might choose to memorialize a beloved woman in his family with a gravestone portrait.

Mrs. Martha Green

Harvard Center Cemetery

Harvard, MA

Carved by the Parks

c. 1790s

Mrs. Patience Watson

Old Burial Hill

Plymouth, MA

Carved by William Codner

c. 1760s

Miss Elizabeth Morton

Old Burial Hill

Plymouth, MA

Carved by Lemuel Savery

c. 1790s

Hannah Balch

Old Hill Burying Ground

Newburyport, MA

Carved by the Lamsons?

c. 1780s

Miss Abigail Stacey

Old Hill Burying Ground

Newburyport, MA

Carved by Paul Noyes?

c. 1780s

Mrs. Mary Stone

Ye Olde Burial Ground

Lexington, MA

Carved by the Parks

c. 1770s

Miss Sarah Cross

Old Hill Burying Ground

Newburyport, MA

Carved by the Parks

c. 1780s

Mrs. Sarah Cross

Old Hill Burying Ground

Newburyport, MA

Carved by the Parks

c. 1780s

Rebeckah Muzzey

Ye Olde Burial Ground

Lexington, MA

Carved by the Parks

c. 1770s

Mrs. Anna Barnard

Old Burial Hill

Marblehead, MA

Carved by the Parks

c. 1770s

Mrs. Lydia Tarbell

Old Burial Ground

Groton, MA

Carved by the Parks

c. 1770s

Mrs. Hannah Blood

Old Burial Ground

Groton, MA

Carved by the Parks

c. 1770s