Friends who have a lovely garden that includes many architectural fragments called us just about a year ago to let us know that a Madison monument company was closing and was selling off their stock. Mark went to take a look and came back with two pieces.
The one below — the word "center" — is supposedly from the old Madison Art Center. Who could resist that provenance? What's even better is that the letter "C" has darkened, making the word look like "enter" at a quick glance. I want to set the stone vertically — near our garden's entry path — with the "C" mostly buried!
Mark also came home with this gravestone. I was taken aback to say the least. Not that it bothered me to have such a monument in the garden, but because we were making an effort to edit the art we put in the garden and I wasn't sure if this "fit." But it is definitely a conversation piece! The text reads:
Mary.
Wife of William Lavin
died April 5, 1868
aged 84 years
Native of Co. Sligo, Ireland
May she rest in peace. Amen.
What an eventful life she must have had, judging from that bit of information on her stone. And what a strong woman she must have been to live to such a great age in that era. I wish we knew more about her.
Mark asked why the monument company had an old gravestone for sale. He thought perhaps it had been vandalized and taken from a cemetary. That's not the case. Apparently old stones are often replaced with new ones; sometimes families add more names or just want one that is legible again. We saw a number of clearly new stones at the Hauge Log Church over the weekend with 19th C. names and dates carved in them. This monument — to an important member of the Hauge Church — has both the original and a new stone in place.
Very interesting additions to the garden. I'm working on a bit of garden art myself, but getting it in place has been a tad more challenging than I expected. Hopefully we'll finish it up this weekend. The response from the neighbors so far has been, "Um, OK." Art is a personal thing and I love it. Also I think I probably have better taste than my neighbors. :)
Posted by: Erin @ The Impatient Gardener | Friday, May 30, 2014 at 04:41 PM