Enamelled gold mourning ring, the oval bezel set with a bevelled crystal over plaited hair and S J in gold wire.The foliated shoulders enamelled in black, England, late 17th or early 18th century

Enamelled gold mourning ring, the oval bezel set with a bevelled crystal over plaited hair and S J in gold wire.The foliated shoulders enamelled in black

Given by the Rev. R. Brooke

Part of the Brooke collection donated to the V&A in 1864. The Brooke collection includes objects relating to the Brooke family along with the Osbaldestons, who were closely related.

“The Reverend R. Brooke, Gateforth House, Selby, presented, in February 1864, a collection of articles of personal use of the 17th and 18th centuries, being the accumulated memorials of an English family for three or four generations; the most important are watches, rings, seals, lace and court dresses; the total number of objects is 396.” The gift also included 718 books for the new National Art Library. Brooke stipulated that the collection should be kept together and labelled as the ‘Brooke of Gateforth Gift’. (Eighteenth Report of the Science and Art Department of the Committee of Council on Education, London, 1865, pp.40-41).

The minutes also stipulate “That Mr and Mrs Brooke, and the future possessors of the ‘Gateforth Estate’, provided they bear the name and are of the present family of ‘Brooke’, to have the privilege secured to them (by memorandum recorded in the Books of the Museum, and by possession of a Free Pass Ticket) of entrance into the Museum and Library and the Horticultural Gardens attached, on the holding of any scientific or other meetings, and on all other public occasions.’

1110-1864