A Condolence Card c. 1830

Emily Wilcox created this condolence card, whose date is unknown, using cut paper. Such elaborate paper cuttings were often created by young women in nineteenth-century America. The sentimental verse, classical urn, and stylized botanical motifs are typical of mourning pictures created in a period when death was commonplace. This example likely reflects the increasing gentrification of American society and the growing social pressure to perform grief in ways that signified refined sensibilities. We might read this as a reflection of the increasing social expectations placed on women, who were now also expected to manage the household's emotional life. As historians, we can look to women's diaries, etiquette manuals, and other visual and material culture from the time to more fully understand the role that art like this played in the social construction of gender and class in nineteenth-century America.