Dr Dan O'Brien
@drdan_o
Historian of undertakers and funerals in Eighteenth Century England. Researching the trade and their goods. Visiting Research Fellow at CDAS @UniofBath
ID:1239667230754963456
16-03-2020 21:38:14
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2 Days to my paper at International Conference on Cemetery Studies at Harokopio University of Athens in Athens. As I early check-in my bag let’s think about trust. How do we know a undertaker can be trusted with both the body of a loved one and the funeral? What qualities does a customer look for?
4 Days to my paper at International Conference on Cemetery Studies at Harokopio University of Athens in Athens. Busy packing my case for Athens so it’s a good time to think about the conditions of burial grounds in the early 1800s - overcrowded and a space where the dead and living meet.
4 Days to my paper at International Conference on Cemetery Studies at Harokopio University of Athens in Athens. The paper asks how do we get to the cemetery - what options are available to the customer? What is traditional and what is innovative?
Excited death historian klaxon! 💀
‘The fire is my mind, the pipe is my body, the smoke is my life, the herb is my food and the ash, my death’ - a cracking memento mori tobacco box on Antiques Roadshow #antiquesroadshow
5 Days to my paper at International Conference on Cemetery Studies at Harokopio University of Athens in Athens. The 19th century brings the development of cemeteries - an alternative to the crowded urban parish burial grounds. Spaces designed for sombre remembrance.
6 Days to my paper at International Conference on Cemetery Studies at Harokopio University of Athens in Athens. At the heart of the paper is the concept of promotion - how does a trade attract customers and talk about its services - by the 1840s the trade had been doing this for over a century!
A favourite for #FindsFriday - a gold ring with a skull on the bezel, encircled with the words ‘respice finem’ - ‘think to the end’. The colourful enamelling has survived in some places. Found in Suffolk.(Portable Antiquities SF-9977A7) #mementomori
In a week’s time I will be talking about cemeteries and the promotion of the undertaking trade at the International Conference on Cemetery Studies at Harokopio University of Athens in Athens. Each day I will tweet some of the context to the paper - it’s funerary research on the road time!
This death historian is now the proud owner of a pair of National Gallery x Dr. Martens boots. Featuring Harmen Steenwyck’s Still Life: An Allegory on the Vanities of Human Life #mementomori #vanitas
A skull stares out from this gold signet ring. The words ‘Memento Mori’ - ‘Remember You Must Die’ encircle the skull. The reverse is inscribed with the initials CW and the year 1592. (British Museum) #mementomori #deathhistory #Tudors
The mutes are in position for my 9pm slot at #GothsForBreakfast - nocturnal funeral fun (and misdeeds) to come!
Happy St Patrick’s Day! Over the last few days I have been in the Irish capital as many of the buildings, bridges and even Busáras went emerald green! #Dublin #StPatricksDay #StPaddysDay
First night in Dublin and the Custom House is lit a brilliant emerald green #StPatricksDay2024 #Dublin #StPaddysDay
A silver gilt coffin snuff box c.1815. This miniature coffin is decorated with a skull and crossed bones as well as winged putto heads. A large crest adorns the lid of the coffin where the nameplate would normally be. Sold at Christie's in 2023 #mementomori #coffin
This striking Fetzentödlein is a detailed 17th cent century depiction of Death holding part of a fatal dart. Death is a cadaver with the bones of the skeleton peeking through tattered skin.
It is being exhibited by Kunstkammer Georg Laue at TEFAF | The European Fine Art Foundation in Maastricht
#mementomori
