The Widow | 1830s Mourning Print

I am HUGELY excited about this new arrival: This is a very early Victorian mourning print entitled “The Widow.” I’m sure you’ve probably seen antique paintings and photos before in which the sitter is beside a portrait: Always an indicator that the depicted person is absent. Here the widow and her young daughter are gazing at the absent father’s portrait. A tear is rolling down her cheek. The print is hand colored, it’s in its original black wooden frame, and judging by those outrageous sleeves, it dates to the 1830s. The Civil War and the death of Prince Albert were the two 19th century events that lead to the Victorian mourning boom- personal grief as a shopping experience- so any kind of mourning or memorial prints prior to the 1860s are pretty scarce.