MELISSALAND

I am in love with this gold ring with a painted eye. It is from England (AD 1794), and made as a mourning ring for a woman named Mary Dean.

From the British Museum’s website:

It was thought that the ‘eye’ of the person depicted was always looking at the wearer of the ring, and subsequently these ‘painted eye’ rings were used as keepsakes or souvenirs, as well as items of mourning. The eye was generally cut from a painted portrait; in this instance the portrait must have been painted in Mary Dean’s youth.

The back is engraved with the inscription ‘Mary Dean Obt 27 Augt 1794 Aet 73′ (’Mary Dean died 27 August 1794 aged 73′). The customary form of a memorial inscription uses the Latin obit for ‘died’ and aetat for ‘aged’, is here abbreviated to obt and aet.

(here is another very unique eye piece)

A bit more research about these rings reveals:

Mourning rings are memorial rings to commemorate a deceased relative, close friend or an historical figure. Early accounts of its use date from the Roman Empire, around the time of the defeat at the battle of Cannae against Hannibal (216 BC). The Carthaginian general ordered the golden rings to be taken from all slain Romans which were then sent to Carthage as evidence of the many Roman noblemen who perished during the battle (only the elite in Roman society was granted the wear golden rings during the reign of the Caesars). In remembrance Romans would take off their golden rings and substituted them with iron ones in days of general mourning.In more recent history, mourning rings were identified from the 15th to the early 20th century with its zenith of wear in the 18th century.

I would love to fashion (or would love to have someone fashion) a ring for me when I die…..something like Mary Dean’s lovely ring. I have a ring I’ve never taken off for years now (and would most certainly feel a bit strange were I not wearing it) - there is something very soothing about familiar objects, and the ritual of putting on jewelry. My ring is made of bone and lapis lazuli (and is in need of a cleaning)

It’s worth nothing really, but I just love it.

How fun to sit imagining the lives of the people that once owned these rings. I wonder what Miss Mary Dean was like……

Further reading on the history of the finger-ring, including mourning rings, can be found here

(the title of this post comes from a story about Lady Jane Grey’s sister, Catherine, who passed on in 1568 - she presented to her husband while still living a ring engraved with a death’s head and inscribed, “While I Live Yours”)