The Victoria & Albert Museum |
This mourning ring commemorates the death of a baby, Matthew Arnold, who died at the age of eight months in 1742. White, rather than black enamel was usually employed to denote that the deceased was a child, a spinster or a bachelor.
The little Matthew Arnold commemorated here was possibly the son of Matthew Arnold (born 1711) and his wife Charity. The elder Matthew was a merchant, an owner of boats, and a lighterman in Lowestoft in Suffolk, who later relocated to Wapping in London where he was prominent in rebuilding Wapping Church.
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