55 17th Century Memento Mori Ring

Memento mori rings w.

17th century memento mori ring. Memento mori rosary german 1500 1525 ivory silver and partially gilded mounts. Showing a woman s face on one side and an enamelled skull on the other this late 17th century gold ring is meant to serve as a reminder that the wearer will one day die. Renaissance gimmel ring. In the european devotional literature of the renaissance the ars moriendi memento mori had moral value by reminding individuals of their mortality. Skull memento mori locket ring british 17th century gold enamel diamond ruby. Shop 17th century rings at 1stdibs the premier resource for and other period jewelry from the world s best dealers. The central cut crystal rests in front of a charming skull and crossbones motif while the shoulders are adorned with deep rose cut diamonds.

In the late 16th and through the 17th century memento mori rings were made during the same period there emerged the artistic genre known as vanitas latin for emptiness or vanity. This is a rare and somewhat unusual example of a stuart crystal memento mori ring. This strange and beautiful memento mori ring is from the collection of the ashmolean museum at the university of oxford.