Stuart Period Gold Memento Mori Ring with Skull and Crossed Bones for Ian Shepherd

DATED 1724 A.D.

7/8 in. (4.60 grams, 22.48 mm overall, 18.44 mm internal diameter (approximate size British Q 1/2, USA 8 1/4, Europe 18.12, Japan 17)).

Comprising a D-shaped hoop with foliate and floral decoration, rectangular bezel set with a facetted rock crystal(?) gemstone with a skull and crossed bones beneath the gem; engraved to the inner face 'In˚ Shepherd Obt 20 Jan 1724 æt 62' and a worn maker's mark.

Provenance

Acquired from a London, UK, auction house.
From a private Bristol, UK, collection.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13213-249807.

Literature

Cf. The British Museum, museum number 1961,1202.385, for a similar pattern.

Footnotes

The memento mori jewellery of the 16th-18th 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 0366