Mourning rings

These rings were made to commemorate the loss of a loved one.  They date from the 15th to the 19th centuries although the overwhelming majority date to the 17th to 18th centuries.  In some cases, the date may be determined precisely as the inscription contains the actual date on which the individual died.  Sometimes the date is shortened to just the last two figures; these rings usually date to the 17th C.  The use of moralising inscriptions with extracts from the bible (e.g. ‘Blessed are the ded which die [in] the Lorde – see DEV-F210B9) tended to be more common in rings dating to the 17th C.

The designs of these rings ranged from simple plain bands with a generic inscription e.g. ‘memento mori’ (in remembrance of death) to a personalised inscription containing the actual details of the deceased individual, through simple stylised skull decorations to more complex styles of skull/skeleton and on to other types of decoration and styles of the rings themselves.  None of the different subtypes can be wholly ascribed to a particular century but the ‘Type 8 rings are generally no later than 17th C.  Click here to see the different types.