Mourning ring

Rings have been distributed at funerals in Britain since the sixteenth century. It was customary for people with assets to leave money in their wills to have rings made and given to friends and family.

This ring for the Lord Chancellor and King’s Counsel, Edward Lord Thurlow emphasizes his public life. It is enamelled with his baron’s coronet and the initial T. The enamel is black, despite the fact that he never married, although he left three natural daughters.