When passing by an old cemetery, you can often guess the burial dates by looking at the tombstone designs. These designs reveal the sentiments and religious beliefs of the time they were made. Some styles may have been popular for a while before falling out of fashion and being replaced by newer trends.
The earliest gravestones often featured austere death heads, which might appear stark to modern eyes. Decades later, these designs softened into gentler imagery, such as serene soul effigies or flying souls and angels.
A style of tombstone featuring actual photographs of the departed, set in glass-enclosed cameos, was uncommon in New Hampshire but more commonly seen in other places.
The Classical Revival Influence movement influenced tombstone styles greatly. Today, we might see some examples of beautiful landscapes and more personal motifs etched into stone.
Here are some traditional motifs commonly seen in Salisbury’s graveyards.
Anchor
The anchor was regarded in ancient times as a symbol of safety and was adopted by Christians as a symbol of hope and steadfastness.
The anchor also represents the anchoring influence of Christ. Some say it was used as a sort of disguised cross. The anchor also serves as a symbol for seamanship and may mark the grave of a seaman or be used as a tribute to St. Nicholas, patron saint of seamen. An anchor with a broken chain symbolizes the cessation of life.
Angel Effigies
The winged faces that adorn many headstones of the late 1700s and early 1800s were meant to represent the immortal souls of the deceased. Headstone carvers used a generic face and sometimes added features so it resembled the deceased. Eventually, the winged soul effigy grew less popular and was replaced by the willow tree symbol. But, by the mid-1800’s winged cherub faces became the trend in funerary art. The Victorian cherub faces had a broader meaning than the once-popular soul effigy. The major difference was that the Victorian cherub face was not a representation of the deceased’s soul, but rather, a symbol of innocence and immortality.
The Cross
A symbol of faith and resurrection. Many military markers, in particular for Veterans of World War I, have a cross etched into the gravestone.
Draperies
Symbol of mourning, used in the home during viewings and funerals, and the post-funeral mourning period. Mourning draperies were used as decorative symbols on tombstones to signify sorrow.
Before the existence of funeral parlors, the body would lie in state in the parlor. It was the custom to cover everything in black. The use of draperies became the style. Some had fancy frills and tassels. They became the expression of mourning. They were used even after burial for a time as a symbol of mourning.
Garland
Victory in Death
Grapevine
The grape and vine are symbols of our Lord and his followers, the church, and unity.
Heavenly Hands
A hand with the index finger pointing upward symbolizes the hope of heaven, while a hand with the forefinger pointing down represents God reaching down for the soul.
Seen as an important symbol of life, hands carved into gravestones represent the deceased’s relationships with other human beings and with God. Cemetery hands tend to be shown doing one of four things: blessing, clasping, pointing, and praying.
Ivy
Ivy is closely identified with death and immortality. It is a symbol of fidelity, eternal life, and undying affection.
The hardy, evergreen leaf of the ivy denotes immortality and rebirth, or regeneration.
Lily of the Valley & Wilting Rosebud
Purity, Innocence, Death, often of a young child
The Pointed Sta
Possibly a Christian symbol derived from Judaism. It appears in older graveyards.
The obelisk’s
A classical Revival design element was borrowed from ancient Egyptian Obelisks. Several Classical Revival Egyptian-style obelisks can be found in Oak Hill and Smith’s Corner cemeteries.
Urns
Receptacles for the bodily remains/mortality. The urn was an Imperial Roman device used to contain ashes and a Greek symbol of mourning, the body as a vessel of the soul, originating as a repository for the ashes of the dead in ancient times. Timing and use are part of the Classical Revival in art and architecture.
Sun/Star
Renewed life. The star represents guidance and hope.
Tree of Life
Eternal Life
Wheat Sheaves
Bakers use wheat flour to make communion wafers, making it a holy plant, of sorts. Bundled sheaves of wheat often connote harvest, the end of “a season,” also used to denote old age.
Weeping Willow
Ancient symbol of grief and sorrow. A predominant image used on late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century gravestones in the Classical Revival.
