{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O74177"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O74177/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2020MT5442/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2020MT5442/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2020MT5442","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020MT5443","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020MT5444","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AN8700","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O74177/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O74177","accessionNumber":"915-1888","objectType":"Ring","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This mourning ring was made to commemorate the death of Martha Holworthy, who died on 13 September 1785, aged 64. The restrained funerary imagery of the weeping willow and the urn is typical of the Neo-classical style, as is the long, marquise-shaped bezel. The miniature is painted in sepia. It may have had snippets of Martha’s hair mixed in, a practice that was customary at this date. The grass at the foreground of the image is also made up of chopped hair. The woman in draperies who is standing by the urn is not intended to be a portrait of Martha, rather a symbolic representation of a mourner. She points up to the sky to show the hope that Martha's soul is now in heaven. \n\nMartha Holworthy led a complicated life. Family records show that as Martha Bolton, she had a long relationship with Daniel Holworthy which resulted in the birth of six children. They finally married in 1757. His death in 1763 led to a prolonged legal quarrel over inheritance with the children of his first marriage. \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. By the end of the 19th century, memorial ring designs were becoming more standardised. The hoops were often inscribed with phrases such as 'In memory' whilst a commemorative inscription could be added to the inside of the hoop. The custom of giving rings as memorials gradually declined in the early 20th century, although the Goldsmiths Journal suggests that some were still being sold in the 1930s.","physicalDescription":"Gold mourning ring with a narrow gold rim surrounding a pointed oval bezel set with a miniature on ivory or bone of a woman standing by an urn on a pedestal with an oval plaque inscribed <i>MH</i> The scene is surmounted by a weeping willow and the woman, dressed in draperies, points up to the heavens. She is standing besides a large ship's anchor.  The foreground is made up of chopped hair. The back of the bezel is inscribed in italic lettering <i>Martha Holworthy Ob 13 Sep. 1785 Aet 64</i>. The narrow gold hoop widens at the shoulders to meet the bezel. It is decorated with a small triangular panel at each side which is engraved with a stylized flower. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"gold","id":"AAT11021"},{"text":"hair","id":"AAT11814"},{"text":"rock crystal","id":"AAT11152"}],"techniques":[{"text":"engraving","id":"AAT53829"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Gold set with a painted sepia miniature on ivory or bone set under crystal and incoporating chopped and cut hair. ","categories":[{"text":"Jewellery","id":"THES48930"},{"text":"Death","id":"THES48970"},{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"}],"styles":[{"text":"Neoclassical","id":"AAT21477"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2020MT5442","2020MT5443","2020MT5444","2006AN8700"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES407865"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Ring","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"England","id":"x28826"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1785","earliest":"1785-01-01","latest":"1785-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"2.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"2.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"2.3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"2.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"inscribed <i>HM.</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":"pedestal"},{"content":"inscribed <i>Martha Holworthy Ob 13 Sep. 1785 Aet 64</i>","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"Martha Holworthy died 13 September 1785 aged 64","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"behind"},{"content":"No goldsmiths marks ","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"Part of a group of memorial and mourning jewels bought from Dr Marco Guastalla, acting on behalf of 'an English lady residing in Italy' (museum numbers 846-1888 to 989-1888)","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Gold mourning ring for Martha Holworthy. Marquise bezel set with a miniature of a woman standing by an urn on a pedestal inscribed <i>MH</i> and inscribed behind, <i>Martha Holworthy Ob 13 Sep. 1785 Aet 64.  </i>England, late 18th century","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Oman, Charles, <u>Catalogue of rings in the Victoria and Albert Museum</u>, London, 1930, reprinted Ipswich, 1993, cat. 850\r\n"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<i>The Connoisseur</i> Vol 33, 1912, p. 71"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"urn","id":"AAT129425"},{"text":"pedestals","id":"AAT1744"},{"text":"miniatures (paintings)","id":"AAT33936"},{"text":"women","id":"AAT25943"}],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"Death","id":"x30761"},{"text":"Mourning","id":"AAT238450"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["915-1888"],"accessionNumberNum":"915","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1888,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LW9973"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-12-15","recordCreationDate":"2003-02-11","availableToBook":true}}