Tombstone Tuesday-Clasped Hands Symbol

A common carving seen on older tombstones is a pair of clasped hands, what appears to be a handshake. This symbol was commonly used during the Victorian era.

Clasped hands, Elm Grove Cemetery, St. Marys, Ohio.

Clasped hands most often represent the hands of a husband and wife. Usually a cuff is visible on each wrist and the cuffs are usually different, one masculine, a man’s shirt cuff, and the other feminine, the cuff of a lacy blouse or dress. Some hands have straight fingers and others have bent fingers.

Clasped hands, Ridge-Slater Cemetery, Van Wert County, Ohio.

Clasped hands with different cuffs symbolize holy matrimony/marriage. They may symbolize the spouse who died first guiding their partner to heaven and greeting them there.

Greenbriar Cemetery, Van Wert County, Ohio.

Sometimes the word farewell or the phrase we will meet again is written near the hands.

Clasped hands, Elm Grove Cemetery, St. Marys, Ohio.

Clasped hands may symbolize a final farewell to the deceased or a heavenly welcome.

East Bethel Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio.

Clasped hands, Elm Grove Cemetery, St. Marys, Ohio.

Clasped hands, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Ohio.

Clasped hands, Ridge-Slater Cemetery, Van Wert County, Ohio.

Occasionally the clasped hands symbol will have two men’s cuffs, symbolizing God grasping the deceased’s hand and welcoming them into heaven and eternal life.  

Clasped hands with same cuffs, Elm Grove Cemetery, St. Marys, Ohio.

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