Joseph and Alfred Managhan, Drowned Brothers, Amesbury MA, 1909

I know post mortem photos are not everyone's cup of tea, and not always mine, either, though I view them much more as tender and reverent than macabre. This one, pulled from the collection of an artist near me, I find both haunting and heartbreaking--with a typed label on reverse identifying the two young men as brothers, drowned in Lake Gardner, Amesbury MA, in 1909.  The framing of photograph, with the brothers lying side by side, wall-papered wall behind them and shelf loaded with everything from photos to teapot, heightens for me the feeling of this as a very specific loss and the family grieving around them. 

8" x 10" as mounted. Photo itself 5" x 7".  Very good condition.