Posted 14 years ago
AnnieinTX
(6 items)
I just found this ring at a consignment store and would like help identifying it. It is marked, "STERLING & 10K G.F." and it has a maker's hallmark, C & C. Both C's are in a triangle pointing outward. The stone appears to be a moonstone with an image of tree embedded in the stone. I love it and it fits me perfectly, a size 6. What is this? Any ideas? Thanks!!!
my guess would be a Dendritic Agate. The company that made the ring was Clark & Coombs.
Thank you George
annie, this is gorgeous!! Perfect for tree lovers like me!! Is there a button to the left of the Love button, like the "Super LOVE button". Mich p.s. the material is gorgeous, I will have to look up Dendritic Agate, LOVE IT!!
Hi Annie in Texas.
I have had another look at the ring because "Michelle" had picked up on it yesterday. It triggered a memory of an English Antiques Roadshow episode when an expert there explained about 'memento mori' jewellery.
The tree embedded in the stone may well be made of hair!
It was a fashionable thing in Georgian England and especially in Victorian times to use hair in mourning brooches rings etc.
The tree symbolism associated with the mourning items is complex. Sometimes you will see a cypress tree and sometimes a willow. I reckon you have a 'weeping willow' in this ring. The hair was ground down into a paste and had sepia paint added to it. A design or a painting was then brushed/painted onto the surface of the Agate/moonstone. Some of these scenes can be surprisingly elaborate including figures. The following site has some wonderful examples;
http://artofmourning.com/2011/01/28/neoclassical-art-as-depicted-in-embroidered-hair-on-silkmaterial/
I like the way it is balanced evenly around a central axis.
The gold mount has two opposing knotted branches and leaves that suggest a "lover's knot" too!
Thank you for sharing this beautiful ring.
I think it is early nineteenth century.
annie and vetraio, tres and death are closely related in old world burials. On every grave in the South of France you will see a Cypress tree. When someones passes, a tree is planted because the "old world" belief is that it helps your soul in it's ascension to heaven. This ring is just beautiful, and vetraio, you have added a whaole other dimension that is fascinating, Thank you again, Mich
Thank you both, Michelleamieux and vetriao for your comments. I found a similar one on Ruby Lane, same setting and maker's mark but with a banded agate. I like mine much more!
http://www.rubylane.com/item/633293-cx26cRg0222B/Handsome-Vintage-Clark-Coombs-Agate
Hi there,
I know this is an old thread but I just wanted to note that George is correct, this is not a mourning ring with hair, it is a Dendritic Agate and the pattern is naturally occurring.