Mourning ring

This beautiful snake shaped ring with diamond eyes was made to commemorate a scandalous character, George the 7th Earl of Waldegrave who died in 1846 aged only 30. He eloped to Gretna Green in Scotland to marry Frances, the widow of his elder, illegitimate brother. The marriage would have been illegal in England, being within the forbidden degrees of kinship. He led a wild life and in 1841 was arrested and imprisoned in Newgate prison for a drunken assault on a policeman. When he was released, he sold the contents of Strawberry Hill, the Gothic mansion designed and built for Horace Walpole, which he had inherited from his grandmother.

After his early death, his widow remarried and moved back to Strawberry Hill. She restored the house and became a notable society hostess.

It was customary for rings to be made and distributed to friends and family members after a death. Snakes were used both in romantic and funerary jewellery, as the circle of the snake symbolised eternity.