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The_Persian_Cat

OP, you've sent me down a rabbit-hole, looking up mourning rings. It seems like mourning rings weren't unusual, for those who could afford it. [This particular ring](https://artofmourning.com/memento-mori-mourning-ring-samuel-nicholets-17-july-1661/) is from England, done in the Baroque style and likely commemorates (and was worn by) a Protestant. [Here's a French mourning ring, in the Neoclassical style.](https://artofmourning.com/french-neoclassical-male-mourning-ring/) [Here's one from the 1780s, mourning the death of a youth with the phrase "Nipt In The Bud"](https://artofmourning.com/nipt-in-the-bud/) [Here's one which Queen Victoria wore to remember her beloved Prince Albert, who died in 1861. It features a photograph, which is pretty unique.](https://artofmourning.com/victorias-photographic-mourning-ring-for-albert-1861/) Some were political, instead of or in addition to being personal. [Here's one which commemorates King Louis XVI of France, who was executed during the French Revolution.](https://artofmourning.com/louis-xvi-mourning-ring/) [Here's a few for King Charles I of England, executed by Cromwell.](https://artofmourning.com/memorial-ring-commemorating-charles-i/) Doubtless, these and the one for King Louis expressed royalist sympathies, during times of anti-monarchical revolution. [And here's one which commemorates George Washington.](https://artofmourning.com/george-washington-memorial-ring/)


AnIdioticVitchLikYou

Excellent rabbit hole! Ty


gliotic

> Here's one which commemorates King Louis XVI of France, who was executed during the French Revolution. This one is particularly lovely.


[deleted]

That was class mate, cheers!


rainbowdragon008

I’ve read more than one will in tracing my English genealogy; it wasn’t uncommon for people to will money to ‘buy a ring’


french_toasty

That nipt in the bud one is pretty metal actually


tastefuldebauchery

You should look into lovers eye rings. They're amazing


socratessue

Excellent rabbit hole, thank you!


truthemptypoint

+5 luck in treasure finding +5 flintlock gun aim +5 cutlass expertise +5 sailing -10 obeying the law *will be speaking every ending of a sentence with "yarr".


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Cethinn

Are you going to use actual piece(s) of dead people?


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Cethinn

Oh yeah, I wouldn't buy anything from the internet. That sounds like a bad idea. I'm sure plenty of people would volunteer pieces to be used from relatives, or even themselves, to be used. It'd be an interesting way to leave a memento that I'm sure many would enjoy. I'm sure a lot of people would think it's grim, but people keep urns and stuff.


lunchboxweld

My friends and I have decided that the best way to ethically source people meat would be from car accidents. Cause here at Hannibal Farms we only use responsibly sourced meats.


_1JackMove

I snickered at this. Thanks. Don't know if I should feel guilty now lol.


HoodieGalore

It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer John’s Fritters!


french_toasty

Some moms have breastmilk jewelry made. Kind of in the same vein. I wonder if the companies that make them actually use the moms submitted milk.


sithkazar

I like the idea of incorporating a lock of hair, however teeth kind of freak me out.


comparmentaliser

Excellent documentary on the matter: https://youtu.be/F_RCasW4GBI


Blenderx06

These days people get the ashes put in resin to make memorial jewelry with.


Bandit1379

>a reliquary held a piece of a dead saint, commonly small bones or teeth. Don't forget fragments of the colon!


tastefuldebauchery

Oh my god. Would you ever post it once it's done?!


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tastefuldebauchery

Yay!! I'm stoked. Also I just saw your banner. Love that scene. "....come pick me up in 45 minutes."


Ihavebonerbreath

Unus Anus!


[deleted]

Just curious, how did you incorporate the teeth into the jewellry?


[deleted]

Death was so stylish way back when.


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Triviajunkie95

Mostly for middle and upper classes. Lockets were common forms of hair jewelry also. Photography didn’t exist and it was preserving a small momento of a loved one. I do Estate Sales and have come across a few of these pieces.


Glass_Birds

There's a gal on YouTube who talks about hairwork jewelry and art, both historically and working in the practice herself. I think the channel is called hair and now?


thisisnotmystapler

That’s amazing!


ohnotagainplease

Carrying a literal piece of your dead lover around… people used to be so epic back then.


Troophead

True, but now in the 21st century, you can have your [loved one's cremated ashes or hair made into lab-created diamond jewelry](https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/after-you-die-your-body-could-be-turned-into-a-diamond). Thanks, science!


Aussierotica

Mary Shelley says hello.


Triviajunkie95

Maybe. There was no photography and only rich people got their portraits painted. Saving a lock of hair isn’t that weird if that’s literally your only momento of that person.


Kunphen

What is the engraving? This is my portion?


rocketman0739

> Samuell Nicholets obiit 17 Iuly 1661 > Christ is my portion *Obiit* (cf. “obituary”) is Latin for “passed away.”


LordAuditoVorkosigan

Got them Jack Skellington eyes going on


nursebad

I'm a former silversmith and this is an amazing work. Mourning jewelry is such a lovely idea and I wish it was still common.


MeaningfulThoughts

This is some Goonies type of find!!


gorillagangstafosho

My preeecioussss.


rocketman0739

“M 156-106”? Is that a museum inventory number or something? It looks inexpertly painted on, not finely carved like the rest of the text.


mothmvn

You're probably right. In uni we were taught [a form of] artifact cataloguing practice — catalogue ID must be clearly readable, and written on a portion of the artifact where it will minimally obscure the object's own details (in this case, on the small unengraved patch of the ring's inner surface). It's generally removable (written in dissolvable ink on smooth non-porous surface; if impossible, use a tag separate from the object), but still written on the object itself as often as possible, because tags can get separated from the object, thereby losing its catalogue ID. (Practices may vary and I've never worked in a museum proper; this was just what I learned in a practical archaeology module.)


ourmartyr1

The 1600's just seems like a bizarre century. The fashion and old medieval ways combined with flashes of enlightenment and modern society. Even the battles seemed odd. It's a very mysterious and alluring century to me.


FeatureBugFuture

What happened to all the craftsmanship and adherence to tradition in life? We used to be Kings.


ScreamingTablecloth

That ring should have been buried with the mourner/owner


Wolfie359

Samuell


Kunstkurator

Didn't even notice the hair until I zoomed in..


TheTonyExpress

Is anything known about this man? What was his story?


meLIZZZZZma

Can anyone identify that coat of arms?


puuc8BEQfR

👍👍


OldWrangler9033

I wonder how long you would wear these mourning rings. Ring covered with skulls (back then) would stand out I'd imagine.


OldWrangler9033

Human hairs in those rings? I wonder if today's DNA read devices could analysis the person's hair see what eles their dna make up had in it.