REMEMBERING A LOVED ONE WITH MOURNING JEWELRY by Susan and Jim
Harran Mourning jewelry mirrored the lives and times of the
people who wore it. It was a souvenir to remember a loved one, a
reminder to the living of the inevitability of death, and a
status symbol, especially during the Victorian The earliest
examples of mourning jewelry were found in Europe in the 15th
and 16th centuries. Black and white enameled heads or skulls
were often set into rings and brooches. In the 17th and 18th
centuries it was a status symbol to present mourning rings to
friends and families of the bereaved. Mourning jewelry reached
its height of popularity in England after the death of Prince
Albert in December 1861. Queen Victoria went into deep mourning,
which was imitated by her subjects when faced with their own
bereavements. Following Albert's premature death, Queen Victoria
ordered that his dressing room at Windsor Castle remain exactly
as he left it. His clothes were laid out every night, and hot
water prepared for nightly a