Post Medieval Gold Memento Mori Ring with Skull

17TH-19TH CENTURY A.D.

3/4 in. (7.73 grams, 21.01 mm overall, 19.06 x 18.44 mm internal diameter (approximate size British R, USA 8 1/2, Europe 18 3/4, Japan 18)).

Ellipsoid plaque with wreath border enclosing an incuse skull in three-quarter view and initials 'RW' below.

Provenance

Private collection, Europe.
Acquired on the English art market.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.13046-248360.

Literature

Cf. Oman, C.C., British Rings 800-1914, London, 1974, item 85(B), for type.

Footnotes

The memento mori jewellery of the 16th and 17th centuries served as wearable ‘reminders of mortality’. Typical motifs within this genre included skulls, skeletons, crossbones, hourglasses, coffins, the gravedigger’s pick and shovel, and various other emblems of death and decay.

CONDITION

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LOT 0411