Mastery of Design: An Enamel and Diamond Mourning Ring, 1787

The Victoria & Albert Museum

This gorgeous ring of gold, enamel, rose-cut diamonds, rubies, emeralds and amethysts is inscribed on the reverse, “Cease thy tears, religion points on high/ CS ob.25 Jan 1787 aet 70/ IS ob. 18 Sep 1792 aet 72” and was made in honor of a deceased couple who died at the ages of 70 and 72 respectively.


Such mourning rings were worn in England as a reminder of the deceased. The jeweled design of dropping flowers in an urn was a common symbol of mourning and one that was easily recognized. With its gold bezel and carefully-set stones, the ring’s workmanship is particularly fine and demonstrates the triumphs of late Eighteenth-Century jewelers.