Ernest C. Peixotto, born San Francisco, - Concord - n.d. - T-Shirt

This monochrome wash drawing shows a small burial enclosure under old trees, with a carved slab that reads GRAVE OF BRITISH SOLDIERS.

Visual Elements & Composition

Soft charcoal, mid grey and pale grey washes sit on a cream paper ground, and the cream dominates the sheet. A low fieldstone wall crosses the middle distance, with a long inscribed slab set into it. Two upright posts frame the plot and a chain sags between them along the wall. Tree trunks rise on either side, their roots spreading across a foreground strewn with leaves, and a squirrel sits low in the centre beside a scatter of fallen cones. The lettering on the slab and the initials E.C. and CONCORD in the signature are the only written marks.

Meaning & Symbolism

The enclosure marks the burial place of British soldiers who fell in the fighting at Concord on 19 April 1775, the opening day of the American Revolutionary War. The site is traditionally associated with the North Bridge and Monument Street area of the town. The posts and chain show the plot set apart and protected, so the scene works as a memorial as much as a view of the woodland. The squirrel carries the sense of ordinary life carrying on around an old loss. Peixotto, the San Francisco-born painter and illustrator, drew it during a period when Concord attracted artists interested in New England history, and the sheet belongs to his wider body of landscape and topographical studies.

On the Unisex Heavy Cotton Tee

A tee puts the drawing across the chest at a glance and then lets the wearer come back to it. The stone slab and the squirrel are the details that reward a closer look, and the wash tones carry well on a light garment, so the drawing reads as a piece of history rather than a graphic. Wear it as you would any tee, and the memorial stays with you through the day.