Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Dear Mourners,

It’s been an exceptionally large year at Art of Mourning and we’ve seen the jewellery/memorial/sentimental community grow exponentially! I want to thank you all for your support and wish you all the best for a happy holiday and new year period.

The new Art of Mourning has been a massive undertaking and I’m incredibly proud of the outcome. If you appreciate Art of Mourning and wish to make a contribution to the cost of running the site, please send your gratitude through to my Paypal account; each cent keeps the memories and history alive!

For today’s very special Christmas post, we have a look at this tear-drop shaped 19th century mourning ring, courtesy of Erica Weiner.

“This mourning ring from New England, circa the late 1800’s, is in great shape. Each of the 19 seed pearls and tiny jet rhinestones are still in place around a pear-shaped setting. Tightly braided blonde hair is visible under the beveled glass. Rose gold is 8K and inside the band is engraved: “M.L.D, Dec. 25, ’93”. Size 6 3/4.”

There’s much we can discern from this ring, without even having to look at the inscription. Firstly, the shoulders correlate with mainstream styles of the 1870-1900 period, featuring the Rococo Revival floral embellishments so popular of the time. Note the fleur-de-lis that begins the band and look at these contemporary rings below:

Note that each mount a larger bezel (in this case, cameos), but the design still remains related.

So, we can look to an estimate of the age of the piece well enough, but then we have the purpose.

This ring has a combination of jet and pearls set in a tear-drop motif; a clear indication of its mourning intent. It would not be uncommon for a hairwork memento ring to be worn as a love token at this time, hence it is important that we ask questions of the ring’s purpose. The tear-drop and pearl are related in the ‘tear’ motif (sadness) and the jet, while a popular material in mainstream fashion, is here combined with the sadness reference, denoting its purpose.

Merry Christmas, Dear Mourners and I hope each of you have many memories to carry with you for years to come!

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