STUART GOLD MEMENTO MORI MOURNING RING INLAID WITH NIELLO Ca. AD 1691 A Stuart period gold memento mori mourning ring. The interior of the ring is inscribed with the words “T. Williams - Obyt. 16 July 1691 cet 19”, communicating that the ring was made specifically to mourn a person who died in the late 17th century. This early date makes this ring a rare example; of the ones in the British Museum that feature a full skeleton, only one is inscribed with a date before 1700. The ring features a multitude of memento mori imagery. The hourglass represents the limited duration of human life, and the pickaxe and the spade are tools used to bury the deceased. The memento mori artistic movement focuses on the inevitability of death; the name memento mori is Latin for “remember (that you have) to die". Size: D:18.75mm / US: 8 3/4 / UK: R; Weight: 5.6g Provenance: Property of a London Ancient art collector, formerly in a Mayfair private collection of Mr. P. S., formerly acquired on the UK art market since the 1970s. This item has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database and comes with a confirmation letter.