Mourning brooch

c. 1814 or c. 1820

Measurements

1 3/8 in x 2 in x 1/2 in

Materials

Gold, enamel on copper, glass, and hair

Credit Line

Gift of Sara Corbit Reese Pryor

Accession Number

1995.45

Inscription

"PC / MCC” is engraved in script on the back.

Provenance

The brooch descended in the Corbit family to the donor, probably along the same path as the Sarah Clark Corbit sampler (cat 59).

Comments

This mourning brooch is a remarkable survival.  It bears the initials of Pennell Corbit (1776-1820) and his wife young Mary Clark Corbit (1789-1814), whom he married in 1807.  The gathering of hair under the glass cover is likely that of Pennell, Mary, or both.  The brooch was owned by their children, Sarah Clark Corbit (1810-1871) and Mary Pennell Corbit (1813-1875), and appears in oil portraits of c. 1847 of each of them (acc. nos. 2004.20 and 1991.65, respectively).

The brooch may have been made in Philadelphia or acquired there from a jewelry merchant and importer.

Bibliography

Zimmerman, A Storied Past, 185-188.