TOMBSTONE STYLES, CLASSICAL MOTIFS
The New Hampshire State House, as well as many municipal NH stone classical buildings, including those in Washington, DC, were built in the Greek Revival/Roman style. Unlike Concord to our south, we do not have any stone municipal buildings; however, we do have elements of Classical Revival influence right in our cemeteries!
You will find an abundance of willows and urns, especially at the Baptist graveyard on Route 4 at the Heights. Obelisks can be found at Oak Hill and Smith’s Corner, and elsewhere, and we even have a pyramid top!
Courtesy of: Gravestones and Symbolism · The Oconee Hill Cemetery Project · Death and Human History in Athens
Greco-Roman Classical Revival:
“A widely influential architectural style in the United States, the aesthetic of the Early Classical Revival also proved impactful in the development of American cemeteries and mortuary motifs. Laden with associations to the legacies of Ancient Greece and Rome, the incorporation of Classical motifs was deeply connected to the national identity of many Americans living in a young republic.[1] An immensely popular sculptural style during the Rural Cemetery Movement, common manifestations of Classical influence include the willow and urn motif, the use of columns, and the construction of mausoleums and sarcophagi in the style of Ancient Greek and Roman temples. Though they often appeared together, willows and urns were also utilized individually. With its leaves and branches falling towards the ground, the physical structure of the willow tree suggests some sense of sadness or mourning, making it both beautiful and tragic. In contrast, the urn stands up right and points towards the sky, often positioned atop a large rectangular gravestone, with strong, geometric lines. Though the use of urns dates back to Classical civilizations, cremation was extremely uncommon in the United States during this time; thus, the urns that appear in rural cemeteries are entirely decorative, and in no way functional.[2]While it may seem odd that the sculptural reproduction of funerary urns was so popular within a society that had no practical use for them, the prevalence of urns in the Rural Cemetery Movement speaks to the weight of Classical influence at the time.”
[1] Stanley French, “The Cemetery as Cultural Institution: The Establishment of Mount Auburn and the ‘Rural Cemetery’ Movement,” American Quarterly 26, no. 1 (1974): 49.
[2] Keith Eggener, Cemeteries, (New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010): 210.
Egyptian Classical Revival
“The obelisk is, to quote McDowell and Meyer in The Revival Styles in American Memorial Art, one of the ‘most pervasive of all the revival forms’ of cemetery art. There is hardly a cemetery founded in the 1840s and 50s without some form of Egyptian influence in the public buildings, gates, tomb art, etc. Napoleon’s 1798-99 Egyptian campaigns, the discoveries at the tombs of the Pharaohs, and our new Republic’s need to borrow the best of the ancient cultures (Greek revival, classic revival, the prominence of classical studies and dress, etc.) led to a resurgence of interest in the ancient Egyptian culture. Obelisks were considered to be tasteful, with pure uplifting lines, associated with ancient greatness, patriotic, able to be used in relatively small spaces, and, perhaps most importantly, obelisks were less costly than large and elaborate sculpted monuments. There were many cultural reasons for the revival of styles in the nineteenth century. Freemasonry, while part of the overall cultural influence, was not responsible for the prevalence of obelisks. If you would like to read more about some of these styles, see The Egyptian Revival: Its Sources, Monuments and Meaning, 1808-1859, by Richard Carrott.”
