In Twilight: Mourning Costume and Customs, 1776–1914 September 1, 2019–January 5, 2020
Attributed to Eliza Goodridge, Portrait of a Young Lady, c. 1830–40, watercolor on ivory in gilt frame, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Rienzi Collection, bequest of James J. Deegan.
“Halley's Comet Stickpin,” c. 1835, hair, 23-karat rose gold, enamel, and glass, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Rienzi Collection, bequest of Caroline A. Ross.
John Wood Dodge, Portrait of Dr. Smith, c. 1830, watercolor on ivory in gilt frame with hair, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Rienzi Collection, bequest of James J. Deegan.
English, Ring, 1891, 12-karat yellow gold, enamel, pearls, and hair, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Rienzi Collection, bequest of Caroline A. Ross.
English, Brooch, c. 1850, enamel, 12-karat yellow gold, hair, paste gemstones, and glass, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Rienzi Collection, bequest of Caroline A. Ross.
Thomas Seir Cummings, Portrait of a Lady, 1838, watercolor on ivory, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Rienzi Collection, gift of James Deegan.
English, Necklace, c. 1860, jet and metal, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Marion Glober, Past Era Antique Jewelry, in memory of Peter C. Marzio.
Rienzi, the MFAH house museum for European decorative arts, presents special exhibitions twice a year.
In Twilight: Mourning Costume and Customs, 1776–1914 explores how people mourned in Europe and America in the 18th and 19th centuries, an era in which the specter of death permeated life. The exhibition offers a look at objects that were used as an outward display of inward emotion.
One way people coped with constant loss was to remember their loved ones through mourning customs and special dress. In Twilight includes an intact late-19th-century American mourning dress and a variety of portrait miniatures depicting subjects in mourning costumes, all recent gifts to the Rienzi Collection.
These objects are accompanied by selections from Rienzi’s extensive collection of mourning jewelry, as well as books of the period advising readers on the correct way to display grief.
At Rienzi, exhibition admission is free. To complete your visit, sign up for a house tour, included with regular admission.
In Twilight: Mourning Costume and Customs, 1776–1914 | September 1, 2019–January 5, 2020
This exhibition is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.