Corsets defined fashionable female silhouettes from the early fifteenth through to the mid-twentieth century. Prior to the 1850s, at center front of corsets were busks—wood, metal, or ivory inserts that kept torsos upright and breasts separated. This two-tone marquetry example, inset with a printed urn topped by an eternal flame, was probably worn for mourning, given the additional symbolic heart, keyhole, and cross motifs.