While most memorials are dedicated to one person, occasionally they will be for two people. This piece possibly commemorates a mother and daughter. Ann Dash died in 1795 at age forty-one and was followed by Maria Dash in 1799 at age eight. The locket’s other side is a portrait of a man, probably the husband and father of the deceased.
The central motif is a bereaved woman standing by a monument. Clutching a handkerchief to her heart, she seems to take comfort from the angel who points to heaven as a reminder of life after death. The willow with its drooping branches was a further representation of grief. The memorial was personalized by using hair to form the plants and by mixing it into the paint for the grass.