In this monument, Child represents several verses from the last chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible. It includes objects from the verse “…the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden…the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bow be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.”
Child planted an almond tree on the mount as part of this monument. The tree grew and flourished despite Utah’s cold winters. It died in 1963, the same year as Child died.
Child created the head of an old man to represent the first verses of this chapter which he interpreted as meaning, “In spite of ourselves, we get sick, weak, and die, and are not the masters of the situation.” Child commented that the color of the almond blossoms exactly matched the pink quartzite head.
Child was particularly happy with the grasshopper carved from a green boulder he found at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. It was displayed in New York City for a year by the Linde Air Products Company which made oxyacetylene torches.
Hortense Child’s audio interpretation of The Last Chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes sculpture