Locket
1775-1800 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Memorial jewellery to honour the dead is one of the largest categories of 18th- century jewellery to survive. Many mourning jewels have inscriptions that record the name and dates of the dead person.
From 1760 there was a new vogue for memorial medallions or lockets. These became especially popular in Britain, though similar work was produced throughout Europe.
The lockets could be bought ready made, and the designs were standardised. Neo-classical motifs of funerary urns, plinths and obelisks joined the more traditional cherubs, angels and weeping willows. Hair was preserved as curls within the locket, or cut up and used to create designs.
From 1760 there was a new vogue for memorial medallions or lockets. These became especially popular in Britain, though similar work was produced throughout Europe.
The lockets could be bought ready made, and the designs were standardised. Neo-classical motifs of funerary urns, plinths and obelisks joined the more traditional cherubs, angels and weeping willows. Hair was preserved as curls within the locket, or cut up and used to create designs.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Engraved gold with enamel, ivory painted in watercolour with a miniature, gold wire and pearls |
| Brief description | Engraved gold frame decorated with enamel, ivory painted in watercolour with a miniature, embellished with gold wire and pearls, of a standing figure by a Tomb bearing the initials MM beneath a willow tree, England, 1775-1800 |
| Physical description | Engraved gold frame decorated with enamel , ivory painted in watercolour with a miniature, embellished with gold wire and pearls, of a standing figure by a Tomb bearing the initials MM beneath a willow tree |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | 'MM' (Initialled) |
| Object history | 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) |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Memorial jewellery to honour the dead is one of the largest categories of 18th- century jewellery to survive. Many mourning jewels have inscriptions that record the name and dates of the dead person. From 1760 there was a new vogue for memorial medallions or lockets. These became especially popular in Britain, though similar work was produced throughout Europe. The lockets could be bought ready made, and the designs were standardised. Neo-classical motifs of funerary urns, plinths and obelisks joined the more traditional cherubs, angels and weeping willows. Hair was preserved as curls within the locket, or cut up and used to create designs. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 942-1888 |
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| Record created | July 19, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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