Dramatic Victorian Enamel and Pearl Ring

An absolutely gorgeous and tender Victorian ring in the style of a mourning jewel. While this ring bears no personalization, which many mourning rings feature to memorialize the deceased, it does have some of the trappings and design motifs of Victorian mourning pieces. While mourning jewelry goes back to at least the middle ages, it was further popularized (like so many things) by Queen Victoria, who, upon Prince Albert's death in 1861, committed to a deep and public grief for the forty years she outlived him. Black enamel was a commonly used material (unless the deceased was an unmarried woman or a child, in which case white and lighter colours were favoured), and the weaving pattern of the enamel here is evocative of the popular hairwork featured in a range of pieces (mourning and not) at the time (though, note, this piece contains no hair). Seed pearls were widely used and represented many things - like love and affluence - but in mourning work took on the symbolism of tears. With no provenance nor inscription, we can't say for sure that this is a mourning ring, but even if it was a simple piece of jewelry that followed the trends of the time it's still a beauty.

Good antique condition with reasonable wear in line with age, including damage to the original central pearl.

Details:
• 18k yellow gold, with British hallmarks for Birmingham c. 1870 and a worn maker's mark
• Size 7.5 (loose) and we do not recommend resizing
• Seven seed pearls
• Face of ring measures 5.6mm wide with a rise of 2.8mm; back of band measures 2.1mm wide and 0.8mm thick
• 3.2g