Collection Highlights
Kerchief
ca. 1848
1941.103
Cotton
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Museum Collections
Decorative Arts
Mourning ring
Object name
Mourning ring
Date
1795
Medium
Gold, hair, enamel
Dimensions
Overall: 7/8 x 7/8 in. ( 2.2 x 2.2 cm )
Description
Gold mourning ring comprising plain gold shank soldered to oval plaque containing braided hair of John B. Schuyler in glass compartment; glass is encircled by rings of blue and white enamel.
Credit Line
Gift of Miss Elizabeth Harison and Mr. William Harison
Object Number
1941.298
Marks
engraved: underneath enameled plaque: "Jn B Schuy/ =ler Obt 19/ Augt 1795/ ae 30 Yr"
engraved: underneath shoulders; on one side: "J.S." on other side: "Obt' Aug 19-1795"
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 encloses tightly plaited hair. 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.
