I feel so silly. I didn't even know we had this in one of our cemetary's. Looks like some beautiful stuff. I will have to visit.
Paws

HT,
I know there was this discussion briefly within a leaves or Little and Lewis posting where some thought the leaves were a newer orignal idea, but obviously either that person is very old or there is another "original".
There were a couple of ferns that were very interesting too, and the rosette that is pictured at first gave the appearance of a 'fiddle head'.
There is someone around here making the conchs (tree fungus) and has them in colors resembling nature's placement. thanks for such great detail, of course I had to look through all.
Thank you again, is the maker of the statues, markers, ornaments etc, mentioned anywhere that you saw?
Dena

Are they concrete or stone? Gorgeous & inspiring either way.

WOW!!! What beautiful monuments. Is that rust showing on one of the damaged pieces? From re-inforcing? The dates on some of the work makes you wonder just how old the Faux Bois is, and at what time the monuments were commissioned. I wonder if these are subtractive sculpture in concrete?
Slate

These types of headstones are what inspired me early in my stone working career. They are carved from single blocks of Indiana Limestone. That's the same stone that is on many courthouses,libraries and banks as the columns with the fancy carved capitals on them. It is one of the best types of carving stones in the world.

As I said they are carved from single blocks of stone in that faux bois style. I've seen some that are over 10' tall, with all kinds of branches, leaves, acorns and every manner of decoration. From a Civil War period monument, I've got pictures of, there is a backpack,canteen and sword carved around the base of the tree and it looks as if it were carved 10 years ago.

I've got hundreds of pictures of this type of headstones in Wisconsin. From what I've been able to determine the major period for these were the 1860's to the 1920's. Most were carved in Indiana but some were carved by local stone shops. Some look so much like real trees they are hard to spot when driving by. This style of headstone can also be carved in marble and granite but the level of detail just isnt there. Marble can be carved in that kind of detail but up north here, the weathering is dramatic after only a few years of exposure and the detail is lost.

I've even seen headstones of full sized soldiers from WW1. The detail is fantastic down to the buttons and shoelaces. Even the thin edge of the Smokey Bear type hat has remained untouched for 80+ years.

I could go on and on about this type of carving but I'd just like to thank Hybridtufa for the wonderful pictures. These types of stones are everywhere. You just have to keep an eye out for them now. Thanks again HT.

HT --- Thank you so much for the great images. Years ago I saw a large and similar grouping near Atlanta. The dates on the stones were similar, as I recall. Must have been quite the fashion in the late 1800's. I noted at the time that some were carved stone, while others were concrete that appeared to have been cast with some steel reinforcing, much as what seems to be the case in Iowa. Some looked as if additional work had been applied onto the casting by hand. Quite an interesting mix. Thanks again.