{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O125967"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O125967/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BM4034/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BM4034/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2007BM4034","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2007BM4036","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2007BM4035","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006BD4562","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O125967/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O125967","accessionNumber":"M.234-1975","objectType":"Ring","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This ring commemorates the naval hero, Horatio Nelson, who died in 1805 at the Battle of Trafalgar, fighting against the Napoleonic forces.  Dr William Nelson, the admiral's brother, ordered 58 mourning rings for family and friends and every admiral and post-captain who fought at the Battle of Trafalgar . The ring  is inscribed on the bezel ‘Trafalgar’; outside the hoop with Nelson’s motto in Latin, ‘Let him who earned it bear the palm [of victory]’, and inside ‘Lost to his country 21 October 1805, aged 47’. The initials N and B stand for Nelson and Bronte. Admiral Nelson was given the title of Duke of Bronte in 1799 by the King of Sicily and in 1801 became a Viscount. The two coronets above the initials refer to these titles. Tthe motto Palmam qui meruit ferat (\"let him who has earned it, bear the palm\") was added to his coat of arms in 1798 after the Battle of the Nile. Nelson was buried with full honours in St Paul's Cathedral. His cortege consisted of 32 admirals, over a hundred captains, and an escort of 10,000 soldiers. \n\nFrom the early seventeenth to the end of the nineteenth century, testators left money in their wills to have rings with commemorative inscriptions made and distributed to their friends and families. Simple bands enamelled with the name and life dates of the deceased were frequently made, sometimes set with a gemstone or a bezel set with a rock crystal covering a symbol such as a coffin or initials in gold wire.  In the later 18th century, rings followed neo-classical designs, their oval bezels often decorated with the same designs as funerary monuments such as urns, broken pillars and mourning figures. Hair from the deceased was incorporated into the designs or set in a compartment at the back of the ring to give each jewel a uniquely personal element. Black or white enamel were favoured though white enamel was often, though not universally used to commemorate children and unmarried adults.","physicalDescription":"Enamelled gold commemorative ring, the shaped oval bezel with a Viscount's and a Duke's coronet over <i>N</i> and <i>B</i> in gold letter with below <i>TRAFALGAR</i> reserved on black enamel. The hoop inscribed outside with Nelson's motto <i>PALMAM QVI MERUIT FERAT</i> and inside <i>Lost/ to his Country/ 21: Octr:1805/ Aged 47.</i>","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Salter","id":"A17842"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"gold","id":"AAT11021"},{"text":"enamel","id":"AAT14910"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Enamelled gold","categories":[{"text":"Jewellery","id":"THES48930"},{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"},{"text":"Death","id":"THES48970"},{"text":"Royalty","id":"THES48899"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2007BM4034","2007BM4036","2007BM4035","2006BD4562"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"91 (VA)","id":"THES49703"},"free":"","case":"23","shelf":"D","box":"8"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Ring","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"England","id":"x28826"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1805","earliest":"1805-01-01","latest":"1805-12-31"},"association":{"text":"dated","id":"AAT54714"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Dame Joan Evans","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"1.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"1.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"1.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"a Viscount's and a Duke's coronet over <i>N</i> and <i>B</i> with <i>TRAFALGAR</i> below","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"the bezel"},{"content":"inscribed <i>PALMAM QVI MERUIT FERAT</i>","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"'Let him who earned it bear the palm (of victory)'","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Nelson's motto"},{"content":"inscribed <i>Lost/ to his Country/ 21: Octr:1805/ Aged 47.<i>","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"inside"}],"objectHistory":"Historical significance: One of more than a hundred such rings made by Salter of the Strand. Admiral Lord Nelson, who died at the Battle of Trafalgar, was also Duke of Brontë, a title conferred upon him by King Ferdinand IV of the Two Sicilies. A letter from the Duke of Wellington to Charles Oman in 1971 reports the rings as being 'very numerous' and states that there were 6 of them at Stratfield Saye. There are three in the collection of the National Maritime Museum. One was stolen, along with other Nelson objects from the Norwich Castle Museum in 2012. ","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Enamelled gold commemorative ring for Admiral Nelson, the bezel with a Viscount's and a Duke's coronet over <i>N</i> and <i>B</i> with <i>TRAFALGAR</i> below, <i>PALMAM QVI MERUIT FERAT</i> and on the inside <i>Lost/ to his Country/ 2: Octr:1805/ Aged 47.</i> England, about 1805.","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Nelson, Horatio (Lord)","id":"N1674"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[{"text":"Battle of Trafalgar","id":"V5"}],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"crowns (headdresses)","id":"AAT46020"}],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"Death","id":"x30761"},{"text":"mourning","id":"AAT238450"},{"text":"battle","id":"x35625"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["M.234-1975"],"accessionNumberNum":"234","accessionNumberPrefix":"M","accessionYear":1975,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LR5438","2019LT2509","2019LW8673"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-09","recordCreationDate":"2006-07-11","availableToBook":false}}