Gravely Speaking

Gilgal Cemetery, Heltonville, Indiana

The variety found in the rustic movement tombstones is diverse.  In these three examples of the tree-stump chair, elegant and slim curved lines have given way to the bulkier and heavier forms made from pieces that came directly from the trees often with the bark still intact, eschewing classic designs.

In the example above the chair back is inscribed with the little girl’s name while the scroll on the seat gives her birth and death date.

Calvary Cemetery, Decatur, Illinois

Here the tree-stump tombstone is carved into the form of an empty chair.  The chair back and the arms of the chair (one is missing) are formed out of tree branches with the stump forming the base of the chair.  On the back of the chair hangs a man’s hat.  This tombstone depicts a lonely scene.

Greenbush Cemetery, Lafayette, Indiana

In this example, tree stumps form the base of the chair and the seat bottom has “FATHER” carved on the face of it.  Again, heavy branches with the bark still intact form the seat back and the arms of the chair.

Union Cemetery, Uhrichsville, Ohio

In the example above, the back of the chair is formed from two branches in the shape of a “V”.  The base is the tree stump.  The creativity of the carvers was boundless. Thousands of tree-stump tombstones exist in nearly as many designs.

In funerary symbolism the vacant chair symbolizes the loss of a loved one.

Gilgal Cemetery, Heltonville, Indiana

George Washington Carson

Oct. 4, 1854 – May 14, 1932 

Flora E. Hunter Carson

July 27, 1855 – April 15, 1906 

Tree stump tombstones, generally carved from limestone, were a part of the rustic movement of the mid-nineteenth century which was characterized by designs that were made to look like they were from the country. The gravestones are purposefully designed to look like trees that had been cut and left in the cemetery which was part of the movement to build cemeteries to look like parks.  In funerary art, the tree-stump tombstones were varied—the stonecutters displayed a wide variety of carving that often reflected individual tastes and interests of the persons memorialized.

The tree-stump gravestones themselves were imbued with symbolism. The short tree stump usually marks the grave of a person who died young—a life that had been “cut” short. Often a tree stump tombstone with two trunks was carved for a married couple.  Sometimes the branches intertwine as though the two trunks were hugging each other.  In this case, however, the male side of the tombstone is cut down and on top of the stump is an anvil.  It is likely that George Washington Carson was a blacksmith.

The anvil gravestone pictured above is a near perfect carving of an actual anvil.  It accurately portrays all of the main parts of the anvil, including the level top called the “face” which is depicted with a hammer laying on top.  At the posterior is the “Hardy hole“, which is used by metalsmiths for bending and punching.  The other end shows the “horn” or rounded part of the tool, with a notch cut between the horn and the face called the “step.”

Anvils have been used for thousands of years and have appeared in literature as early as 800 B.C. in Homer’s Iliad:

“He [Hephaestus] cast durable bronze onto fire, and tin,/Precious gold and sliver.  Then he positioned/His enormous anvil up on its block/And grasped his mighty hammer/In one hand, and in the other his tongs./He made a shield first, heavy and huge, /Every inch of it intricately designed./He threw a triple rim around it, glittering/Like lightening, and he made the strap silver.”

Just as a blacksmith uses an anvil to bend and shape metal into objects, the anvil is a symbol of universe being forged and created.  Searches on the Internet also list the anvil as a symbol of martyrdom.