1798 Georgian Mourning for Mary Graham

A Georgian era mourning ring for Mary Graham (1737 – 1798), of third-stage half mourning design, with a central compartment of woven hair beneath domed glass, set within a halo of glittering old mine cut diamonds, and all against a ground of white and blue guilloche enamel. The ring head posterior bears the following inscription: “Mary Graham died 6 May 1798 aged 61”.

Mary Graham (née Shewen) was born in 1737 to William Shewen of Thistleboon. On 8 August 1762, Mary, aged 25, married John Graham, Esq, of the East India Company and the Supreme Council of Calcutta. Mary accompanied her husband to India and bore at least five children. John rose through the ranks, becoming Secretary to the Council in 1765 and Superintendent of the Khalsa in 1773. However, by 1775, he would leave India for health reasons, fail to recover, and die young at age 35. Mary outlived her husband by 23 years, passing at age 61 in 1798. In a turn resembling Jane Austen’s “Mansfield Park”, the couple’s eldest daughter, Mary Ellen Graham, was sent as child to the household of her viscount uncle, Lord Newhaven. Mary Ellen was said to have grown into a beautiful woman, achieving the honor of being appointed governess to Princess Charlotte of Wales, daughter of King George III. During this post, she met and subsequently married Sir Henry-Watkin Dashwood of Kirklington, Baronet and M.P. for Woodstock, thereby becoming Lady Dashwood. A print of Lady Dashwood’s portrait is in the British Museum (no. 1887,0406.17). A full-length portrait of Mary is illustrated in the book “India and British Portraiture 1770-1825” by Mildred Archer (p. 88, plate 43).

The noted absence of black suggests this ring was intended for half mourning, a period after the deep and ordinary mourning stages had passed, and muted colors and gems such as diamonds could be re-incorporated into the wardrobe of the mourner. The design combination of diamonds with blue guilloche enamel was extremely popular between 1780-1800s, and can be found on jewelry of non-mourning context. When employed for mourning, diamond-and-blue-guilloche jewelry connoted the distinguished social status of the mourned (blue enamel bearing associations of regal “royalty”), and were often paired with urn motifs or a band of white enamel to distinguish against non-mourning jewels.
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