Daily AncestorEmpty chair
An empty chair or cradle on a gravestone stands for a loved one missing from the family, most often a child.
Victorians used small, empty furniture to show the loss of a family member, especially a child whose life went unfulfilled. Some carved chairs hold a little hat, or a pair of shoes and stockings, as though the child had taken them off at bedtime.
Chairs, beds and pillows also gave the dead familiar objects for their rest. An empty chair usually marks a child, but an adult's place at the table can be meant too, so check the dates.
As seen in a recordMidwest or Northeast town cemetery, 1860 to 1920
Small empty chair with a pair of shoes on the seat: Our Eddie, 1881 to 1884
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Empty chair." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/gravestone-symbols/empty-chair. Last checked 2026-10-15.