1749 Mourning Ring for Samuel Vanderplank

A c. 1749 mourning ring for Samuel Vanderplank, featuring a portrait miniature under quartz crystal, within a halo of old mine cut diamonds, the black enameled shank inscription inlaid: “Sam· Vanderplank Esq: Ob 17 Mar 1749 ÆT 63”. The unusually beautiful ring posterior is chased in the shape of a mallow flower, which in antiquity was planted on graves and was considered to feed the dead. An esquire of North End in Fulham, Samuel Vanderplank made his fortune as a Blackwell-hall Factor— a commission-based agent of the textile market. By the late 17th c, the English wool and cloth trade were dominated by such Blackwell-hall Factors, who both supplied raw materials and gave credit to clothiers and drapers. The Blackwell Hall trade was largely helmed by a few wealthy men by the 18th century (about 50 Factors around c. 1700). Vanderplank’s wealth is evidenced by his eldest daughter Hannah (b. 1721) marrying in 1741 with a stunning dowry of £20,000. The fine quality of the present ring can be explained by the generous provisions “for mourning” made in Vanderplank’s will: rather than a lump sum for rings, the testator left allotments of £10-50 each to family and friends. Samuel Vanderplank is largely remembered today as the landlord and neighbor of the celebrated writer Samuel Richardson, a father of the modern English novel. In 1738, Richardson—then a 49-year-old printer who’d tragically lost his first wife along with five sons and was likely suffering from Parkinson’s disease—became a tenant of Vanderplank’s house in North End. Vanderplank, protective of two young daughters with large dowries, was appreciative of Richardson being an elderly moralist without grown sons, and welcomed the latter with a reduced rent of £25 per annum. It was at Vanderplank’s house that Richardson experienced the most productive period of his life: he would write the three novels that are now regarded as the first dramatic novels of manners (“Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded” in 1740, “Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady” in 1748, and “The History of Sir Charles Grandison” in 1753), all while becoming a friend of the Vanderplank family. Richardson drew upon his epistolary exchanges with Vanderplank’s daughter Ann and her friend Sarah Wescomb for novelistic inspiration. Samuel Vanderplank is remembered in Richarson’s letters as a “matter-of-fact” neighbor who could be counted on for pragmatic opinion. Vanderplank’s house—known as The Grange—was well-arranged and spacious (“I can make ten beds, and give guests a separate parlour”, Richardson wrote). At the back of the house was a lovely garden with an historical grotto, where Richardson received admirers and held readings of his works. It could be said that the milieu and environment of life at The Grange contributed to Richardson’s output as a writer. After Samuel Vanderplank’s death in 1749, the house transferred to a new owner in 1754. The previously bargain rent was raised to £40 per annum and Richardson moved out as a result. The following year, Richardson gave up writing.

According to parish records, Samuel Vanderplank was buried 23 March 1749 “in the middle aisle at the lower end” of St. Margaret’s churchyard in Lothbury. He married Hannah Kesar on 23 Dec 1718 at St. Michael, Cornhill. His daughter Hannah was christened 17 October 1721 and married Sir Edward Hulse, 2nd Baronet of Lincoln’s Inn Fields, on 20 Feb 1741 in Little Ilford, Essex. His son Kesar Vanderplank was christened 14 December 1719 and married a wife named Catherine, but died at an unknown date. Samuel Vanderplank’s will provided a yearly annuity for Kesar’s widow and daughter. The youngest Vanderplank daughter, Ann, was christened 23 Nov 1722 and married Gilbert Jodrell (1714–72), an attorney of Lincoln’s Inn, on 28 June 1747. Jodrell was named Samuel Vanderplank’s heir as part of his marriage settlement with Ann. After Samuel’s death, the Jodrells resided at the family seat in Ankerwyke, a picturesque site on the opposite bank of the River Thames with a medieval priory and thousand-year-old yew tree.

For examples of Rococo circular portrait rings with diamond halos, consult Musée national de la Renaissance ECL 15570, Amsterdam Museum KA 3663, Musée du Louvre RF4130-recto, and the State Hermitage Museum Э-4363. Pre-Neoclassical mourning rings with enameled shanks and portrait miniatures are rare: an early 1734 example is in the British Museum (AF.1468), while a 1771 example is in the Huntington Art Museum (96.22B).
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