[Mourning Corsage with Portrait of Abraham Lincoln]
April 1865
![[Mourning Corsage with Portrait of Abraham Lincoln] by Unknown|Brady & Co.](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/ph/thumb/mourning-corsage-with-portrait-of-abraham-lincoln-301949.webp)
Medium
Black and white silk with tintype set inside brass button
Dimensions
20 x 9 cm (7 7/8 x 3 9/16 in.) Image: 2 x 2 cm (13/16 x 13/16 in.)
Classification
Assemblages|Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Alfred Stieglitz Society Gifts, 2013
Accession Number
2013.46
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate mourning corsage, crafted in April 1865 just days after President Abraham Lincoln's assassination on April 14, captures the nation's profound grief during the closing moments of the American Civil War. Produced by the studio of renowned photographer Mathew Brady & Co., it features a tiny 2 x 2 cm tintype portrait of Lincoln—likely derived from one of Brady's wartime images—encased in a brass button and mounted on black silk ribbon. At 20 x 9 cm overall, this intimate assemblage was designed to be pinned to clothing, transforming personal sorrow into a wearable emblem of collectiv...
About the Artist
Unknown|Brady & Co.
The artist designated as "Unknown" in our virtual museum's collection exemplifies a poignant chapter in art history: creators whose identities have faded into obscurity despite the enduring power of their work. With only one known artwork attributed to them in our holdings, this figure represents countless anonymous hands that shaped visual culture across centuries. Museums worldwide, including th...