Collection Highlights
Anna Pavlova (1881-1931)
1924
1952.45
Brown flesh tone painted plaster with wooden base
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Museum Collections
Luce Center
Mourning ring
Object name
Mourning ring
Date
ca. 1795
Medium
Gold, hair
Dimensions
Overall: 1 1/8 x 5/8 x 7/8 in. ( 2.9 x 1.6 x 2.2 cm )
Description
Gold ring mounted with oval plaque containing strands of hair and 3 initials in gold: "JBS".
Credit Line
Gift of Miss Elizabeth Harison and Mr. William Harison
Object Number
1941.297
Marks
engraved: under central plaque: "Jn. B. Schuy / ler Ob 19 Augt / 1795 / AE 30 yrs."
Gallery Label
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Americans often commemorated the death of loved ones by wearing mourning jewelry made of, or containing, the hair of the deceased. This gold mourning ring commemorates wealthy Albany landowner John Bradstreet Schuyler, who died in 1795 at the age of thirty. The oculus holds strands of hair set against his initials. The ring may have been worn by Schuyler's wife, Elizabeth Van Rensselaer.
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
