1764 Georgian Tree of Life Mourning Ring

A lovely 18th c. Georgian ‘Tree of Life’ mourning ring, the ring face decorated with hairwork beneath polished quartz crystal and surrounded by a halo of flat-cut amethysts; the shank inlaid against black enamel with the inscription, “Mary Morisset ob: 21 Apr: 1764 Æ:68”. According to Hampshire parish registers, Mary Morisset was born in 1696, died 21 April 1764, and was buried 27 April in Southampton, Hampshire. The ring butt features a rare “pie crust” design briefly seen during the mid-Georgian period, and, unlike the rayed rosette design, was not brought back during later revival movements. The shank retains rococo influence in the way it waves and curves like a ribbon, with grooved scrollwork terminations. (By the 1780s, English shanks would become straight or knifed due to neoclassical fashions.) The ring face hairwork consists of fine gum-bound hair, carefully arranged to resemble the limbs and branches of a tree. The original backing paper has naturally aged to attractive shades of saffron, lending an appearance of dendritic moss agate. The “Tree of Life” was a popular and well-known motif throughout the Georgian period, having been adapted from earlier religious illuminated manuscripts to be featured on various decorative objects such as textiles, wallpaper, and jewelry. The symbolic significance of this motif derives from biblical references: “The tree of life [was] also in the midst of the garden” (Genesis 2:9); “On either side of the river, was there the tree of life […] for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2). Marking both life and death, the “Tree of Life” represents mankind’s separation from and yearning for the divine, and indeed, of a search for life beyond death.
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