c.1737 Memento Mori Skull Mourning Ring for Benjamin Wakefield

A c.1737 early Georgian mourning ring for Benjamin Wakefield (1677-1737), with a memento mori skull set beneath a step-cut crystal, the 18k gold straight ‘bone’-type shank inscription-inlaid: “Ben: Wakefield ob: 10 Jan 1737 ÆT 59”. According to leases preserved at the Somerset Heritage Centre, Mr. Wakefield was a resident of Williton in the parish of St Decumans, having been yeoman to Sir William Wyndham of Orchard Wyndham (c. 1688 – 17 June 1740), a leading Tory politician who was Secretary at War and Chancellor of the Exchequer during the reign of Queen Anne (1702–1714). In English history, yeomen were usually landowning retainers of nobility. According to parish baptism records, Benjamin Wakefield had a wife named Elizabeth; the couple welcomed a daughter named Ann in 1725, and another daughter named Elizabeth in 1727. Mr. Wakefield passed away at the age of 59 on 10 Jan 1737, and was buried 19 Jan at St Decuman’s church, Watchet.

Prior to the adoption of ‘lighter’ Neoclassical motifs, literal death’s symbols such as skulls, skeletons, and coffins were found on mourning jewelry, to function as memento mori (Latin, “remember that you must die”) — a reminder and contemplation on the brevity of earthly life. 18th c British mourning rings of the present type evolved from Stuart crystal rings of the late 17th century, taking that essential combination of enameled shank with a crystal head and updating it with rococo flourishes, such as the openwork fleur-de-lis shoulders seen on the present ring. With its 1737 date, the Wakefield ring is one of earliest examples of such rococo style mourning rings. For example, counterpart museum examples in this style bear later dates: 1746 for Victoria & Albert Museum M.22-1996, 1755 for British Museum AF.1693, and 1762 for Boston Museum of Fine Arts 54.1479. Like many early Georgian mourning rings made between 1710-30s, the present ring has a straight, bone-like shank; by the late 1740s, ribbon-like cartouches would be the shank design norm for this type.
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