Post by Graveyardbride on Oct 12, 2013 11:04:59 GMT -5
English Mourning Rings in the British Museum
Mourning rings were popular in England between the late Middle Ages and the early 19th century as an intimate way to commemorate the dead. They were sometimes commissioned by relatives after a death, but it was also normal for a bequest to be left in a will for the production of memorial rings. Shakespeare in his will left: to my ffellowes John Hemynges, Richard Burbage & Heny Cundell XXVIs VIIId A peece to buy them Ringes.
Mourning rings could be as simple as a plain gold band engraved with the beloved’s date of death, and some were complex, miniature works of art incorporating woven human hair and precious stones. The majority, however, were engraved or enameled with skulls and other imagery that, according to the British Museum, was based on the illustrations in the Bills of Mortality or on funeral tickets: These are usually enclosed in an arched frame, the borders of which commonly show a skeleton with an hour-glass, a symbol of the brevity of life, a pick and shovel, used to dig the grave, and a winding sheet, in which the body was wrapped.
These were common symbols used in a variety of contexts, so it’s not clear to me that there is a direct connection between the Bills of Mortality and the rings, but there may be some academic work I’m unaware of which explains the connection.
All the rings below are in the holdings of the British Museum, Prehistory and Europe Department, with the full search results available here. The link below each photo goes to the item’s complete catalogue description with details on its origin and history. Images can also be enlarged by clicking directly.
Mourning rings were not necessarily made specially after a death. Lover’s tokens or posy rings could be converted into mourning rings by engraving a death date into the band. Other rings with skull imagery may not have been mourning rings for the dead but memento mori intended to remind the wearer of the inevitability of his or her own death. The example above may be a posy ring, or perhaps a posy ring/mourning ring combination, as it is engraved with the phrase “In vtram qe paratus fortunam” (Prepared for good or bad fortune) and with the initials RS.
Hair rings, which included clippings of the beloved's hair were popular and in some, the hair was plaited into geometric designs (see above) or embroidered as an image or monogram. Although the hair rings are stunning, certainly the most elaborate of the selection is the one below, which has a band made of two skeletons supporting a coffin that opens to reveal a skeleton.
The ring below is an example of a mourning ring made from a Lover’s Eye ring, with the subject’s death date engraved on the inside of the band.
Exquisite in craftsmanship, unique in detail, and few in number, lover’s eye miniatures are small-scale portraits of individual eyes set into various forms of jewelry from late-18th- and early-19th-century England. Part of a trend that began with Britain’s Prince of Wales (later George IV), clandestine lovers exchanged these customized tokens depicting one another’s eyes, as such a feature might only be recognized by persons of the most intimate familiarity.
Sources: MaterialCultures, January 6, 2013, and The British Museum.