AMERICAN ENAMELED GOLD MOURNING RING, ATTRIBUTED TO THOMAS EDWARDS, BOSTON, DATED 1747

Mounted with a table cut crystal over a painted skull, the shaped band with inscription "ELIZ ROYALL OB:2: JULY 1747 AE: 7" on white enamel ground, apparently unmarked.

A Connecticut private collection, sold;
Sotheby's, New York, May 22, 2003, lot 664.

Museum of Mourning Art, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.

some small losses to enamel, otherwise good condition
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Elizabeth Royall, was the daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth MacIntosh Royall. Isaac, a well-known Loyalist, was the representative from Medford to the General Court, and named Brigadier General in 1761, the first person to bear that rank in America. He left New England on April 16, 1775, for Halifax, Nova Scotia, and on to England, where he died in 1781. He bequeathed 2000 acres in Worchester Co., MA to found the first law professorship at Harvard. A portrait exists at Harvard Law School of Isaac, his wife, the daughter commemorated by this ring, his sister Penelope Royall, and his wife's sister Mary Palmer, painted by Robert Feke in 1741 (illus. Wayne Craven, American Art History and Culture, fig. 5.7, p. 73).

In 1747, the year of his daughter's death, Isaac gave to St. Michael's Church in Bristol a baptismal bowl by Thomas Edwards (E. Alfred Jones, Old Silver of American Churches, p. 97-98). While this ring is unmarked, it was most likely supplied by Thomas Edwards, who employed as a journeyman the jeweler William Cario, Sr. Again in 1747, Edwards is recorded as purchasing jewelry supplies from Asahell Mason. In 1749, Edwards was paid for funeral rings by the estate administration of Anthony Stoddard (see Barbara McLean Ward, "Thomas Edwards" in Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewelers, pp. 457-58).