Description:
Kidney shaped silver coffin plate with curving sides and four lobes, at the four corners are decorative foliate embellishments of two leaves and a stylized flower - which looks like a corn, plate is made of german silver or nickel silver and is silver plated, the silver plate has tarnished, the embellishment is stippled, the surround of the plate is decorated with engraving of four leafy sprigs, in the center is the engraved decoration, "Susie M. Colton/ Died./ July 24, 1874/ AE. 36 yrs. 9 mo." You can see the scribe lines where the engraver laid out the inscription. The plate is dented on the lower left hand side; there are two holes on the right and left side for the plate to the nailed to the coffin. Coffin plates could be removed from the coffin before inturnment and saved as a memento of the departed. This example descended in the Colton family of Northfield, Massachusetts.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2010.11.3 |
