The Victorians excelled at telling ghost stories, they were so interested in death and what layed upon it. The stories today still contain their original power to surprise and unsettle.There was death all around in the Victorian era, why wouldn't they be fascinated by it?
Only 18% of people die at home, most people spend their last days removed from their house into hospitals and care homes.
Infant mortality & childbirth:
Many children didn't make it to infancy, they mostly died when weening due to malnutrition. Children would lose at least one sibling during their childhood, nowadays we have good medical services to support us.
Fatal diseases:
If you survived childhood you would be at risk of many diseases. Smallpox being a common disease that many people didn't survive. If they did, they would be at risk of becoming blind. Around 25% who contracted the disease died.
Tuberculosis (TB) is fatal. suffer from severe coughing fits, their lungs gave up.
Death in the city:
In London, the average life expectancy for a labourer was 22 years old.
Cholera:
Many people died because of contaminated water, human and animal faeces made its way into the water. This was because people chucked poo into the streets. It wasn't until 1859 that sewers were first invented!
Industrial deaths:
There was no health and safety. Men, women and even children worked in factories and worked extremely long hours all day. Thousands died in industrial accidents due to hair, clothing and even body parts caught in the machines, or they would die from sheer exhaustion from working long hours.
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| Image from: http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/ mw135732/Queen-Victoria?sort=dateDesc&LinkID=mp04634 &wPage=2&role=sit&rNo=45 |
She is known for the mourning of her departed husband Prince Albert, she mourned him every day for 40 years. In the
Victorian era, it was normal for someone to mourn for about 2 1/2 years. They would wear black all the time and slowly start to change colours as time healed. Servants used to set out Alberts clothes and the glass he drank out of before he died remained by his bed for 40 years. In almost every painting, Albert is somehow shown too, whether its a portrait of him, one of his possessions or even a piece of jewellery that Victoria is wearing. Dressing in black became very favourable because they wanted to dress like Queen Victoria.
In this picture you can see Queen Victoria and in the background Prince Albert, it looks similar to the spirit photography I previously looked at.
Grieving Jewellery:
This was a token to remind people of their loved ones death. They would usually cut pieces of their hair and put them in jewellery to be worn so that they could grieve privately. No one would understand, it's a meaningful momento to them.
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| Image from: https://sarahjryder.files.wordpress.com/ 2012/02/tim-cuff-findersjewellery31.jpg |
In several cases people have come back to life after their heart has stopped beating (they've been in a coma). Because of this, there was a fear of being buried alive so they increased the burial time to weeks after they had died. They sometimes put a string in the coffin which was attached to an outside bell so that if they were to wake up they could ring the bell and be taken out. This is wear the quote "saved by the bell" comes from.
Mourning Etiquette:
Victorians would cover mirrors with black fabric and wrap door handles with black crepe tied with a white ribbon to let people know they shouldn't ring the bell to disturb the mourners. A person in deep mourning didn't attend social events or places with amusements for up to a year. You can pay for a professional mourner to cry and express grief at the funeral. The louder they cried, the more important the person seemed.
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| Image from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ commons/4/44/Making_Death_Mask_Edit_4.jpg |
Death Mask:
Death masks were popular and became a real fashion in the 1800's. A young woman's body had been found in the Siene River in Paris between 1870-1880. A pathologist found the woman's face so enchanting he decided to make a death mask of her. Her unknown smile and peaceful expression is well known across the world and her face is now first aid mannequin Annie.
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| Image from: http://mentalfloss.com/sites/default/ files/styles/article_640x430/public/creepy.png |
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| Image from: http://library.princeton.edu/libraries/ firestone/rbsc/aids/C0770/ex43.jpg |
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| Image from: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/06/01/ article-1393184-0C5B859800000578-740_468x286.jpg |
My own Death Mask
Below I have created my own death mask, using my supracolor palette making sure I pick out the highlights and shadows. I am pleased with how it has turned out as I have defined the face and made it look as realistic as possible.
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