Victorian Mourning Enamel 15k Gold Ring

In memoriam of Thomas Barber. Born January 17th, 1798 and passed at the age of 70 on April 21st, 1868. He was a gentleman of Hobland Hall, a beloved father and a husband. 

The Victorian age is known for many mini fashionable trends and there are two motifs going on here. Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert had passed away in the year 1861. While mourning jewelry was not new during that time, her deep mournful state plunged the entire society into mourning and many people followed suit with either bespoke jewelry or fashioning themselves in mourning designs and colors. The second motifs is the language of flowers, the Victorian society spoke in secret codes represented by flowers as it was inappropriate to display one's affection out in the open. These pearls are designed in the shape of a forget me not, which represented affection and ever lasting love. This was likely a ring that was commissioned by his wife. 

Specification

Victorian era 1860s 

Black enamel mourning ring with a forget me not pearl motif 

Full engraving with dedication to Thomas Barber 

2.19g 

Care/Clean

Occasional wiping down with wear. The shank can be lightly cleaned with soap and a soft toothbrush. 

Condition

One pearl and the central diamond has been sympathetically replaced. I had a historic jeweler restabilize a very tiny area of enamel (around 3mm long) on 1 side. The engraving on the inside is pristine and in excellent condition. 

Collector's Note on Hobland Hall

Thanks to Susan T. Miller, whose genealogical research included evidence of the hall's former tenants. Hobland Hall is a large historic estate and has been recently rebuilt. Magdalen College is said to have leased the hall for centuries, and over time the tenancy passed through a succession of familes, including the Thurtells and the Barbers. The Thurtell name later became tied to a major scandal when John Thurtell (nephew of then Hobland Hall tenants John and Anne Brown Thurtell) was convicted of murder and subsequently hanged. The Thurtell family as a result vacated Hobland Hall. By 1841, English census records indicate the Barber family as the hall's new leaseholders. 

Taken from Miller's website: 

 In the London Times of December 4, 1822, the manor of Hobland Hall is described as follows:

" a well built commodious mansion house, called Hobland Hall, situate in the parish of Bradwell, containing, on the ground floor, a large dining room and 2 good parlours, a kitchen, housekeeper’s room, store room, and servants’ hall, laundry, brew-house, and other convenient domestic offices; on the first floor, a handsome drawing room, and several bedchambers and dressing rooms, and on the floor over, 4 good bedrooms; under the ground floor are good arched cellars, and detached from the mansion are a double coachhouse, stabling for several horses, a harness house, and extensive pleasure and kitchen gardens, with hothouses, greenhouse, garden house, &c. A large and modern built farm house, barns, and other farming buildings. And about 362 acres of freehold, copyhold, and leasehold land. The mansion house (which is beautifully situate in a lawn of 32 acres, surrounded by 23 acres of plantations) is in a genteel neighbourhood, about 4 miles from Yarmouth, 6 from Lowestoft, and one mile from the sea, and with 68 acres of land, including the lawn and plantations, is in the occupation of John Penrice, esq. at the annual rent of 250l. The farm house and the residue of the land are in the occupation of the assignees."