Illuminated Tailpiece with a Palette and Brushes for William T. Walters' Drawings Album "Original Sketches"

This tailpiece was specially commissioned for one of William T. Walters' albums of drawings. It shows a palette and brushes covered by a spider's web, the spider is suspended from a brush below. Under this is the word "finis," Latin for "end." The seemingly abandoned pallette perhaps suggests the mortality of the artist. This would echo a second tailpiece by the same artist which shows a skull, and is inscribed "emigravit," meaning "departed."