From 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.

Mary Ann Goodhart (born Dettmar) was the child of German immigrants and married into another London German family. She was born in 1785, to George Dettmar and Catherine Letitia Dettmar (born Engel). Mary had 4 siblings: Charlotte Louisa Dettmar and 3 other siblings. She married Emanuel Goodhart on 16 July 1801, at St Mary's Leyton. Her husband Emanuel was born on April 17, 1772, in Middlesex, England and was the son of Emanuel Goodhart, an extremely rich London sugar refiner who had been born in Borcken, Hesse- Cassel, Germany and naturalized as British in 1784. Emanuel's father was also the founder of the Phoenix Assurance Company and the Pelican Life Office, two organisations set up to mitigate business and life risks. He served as Warden of the Worshipful Company of Grocers, Director of the Phoenix Fire Office, Warden of the Worshipful Company of Grocers and was also a magistrate. He was a sugar refiner at Horse Ferry Road, Limehouse, and Hooper square, Goodman's Fields but owned a large house outside London at Langley Park, Beckenham in Kent. The Dettmars, Goodharts and other families were part of the influx of German immigrants which followed the Hanoverian succession and the coronation of George I.

Mary Ann and Emanuel had one daughter: Mary Ann Charlotte Goodhart, who was born shortly before her mother's death in 1802 and died the following year. Mary's death at the age of 18 may have been the result of complications from her daughter's birth, as childbirth was one of the leading causes of female mortality.

The Goodharts' sugar refinery in Limehouse, London baked or refined the raw sugar which was being imported from the West Indies into sugar loaves. Their involvement with the sugar trade and the ownership of shares in the Sierra Leone company make it likely that their fortunes were linked to the enslavement of Black African people.

The border of cut jet around the bezel was appropriate for a mourning jewel. Mourning rules stipulated the avoidance of colourful gemstones, making pearls, jet, garnets or amethyst suitable for memorial jewels. The inscription is set against white enamel which was unusual for a married adult but may have been prompted by Mary's young age at death.