Woodland Cemetery, Des Moines, Iowa

The Western White Bronze Company of Des Moines, Iowa, the Monumental Bronze Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut, the Detroit Bronze Company, of Detroit, Michigan, and the other companies that produced zinc funeral monuments, had a wide range of symbols from which to choose.  The companies produced catalogs that salespeople could carry with them to show prospective buyers the many marker design options and large array of symbols were available.

Some popular symbols, such as the lamb, came in multiple forms .  This symbol was offered as a bas-relief and full three-dimensional sculpture.  The lamb is the symbol of the Lord, the Good Shepherd.  It also represents innocence, likely the reason why this motif usually adorns the tombstones of infants and young children.  Most often the lamb is lying down, often asleep and sometimes with a cross behind the lamb.

Rose Hill Cemetery, Missouri Valley, Iowa