Ring
Label Text
Diamond jewelry was in short supply in mid-eighteenth century America, making Martha Washington's diamond ring an impressive display of taste and wealth. Likely worn on formal occasions, the luster of the nine diamonds in silver collets would have been increased by the flickering candlelight of an evening party. However, the significance of its outward appearance diminishes in light of the secret gold locket mounted on the back of its setting. Behind the thin sheet of glass is a swatch of hair; although its owner is not known, its intimate placement suggests it belonged to a loved one.
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Date1750 -1775
Geography
Made -
England
Medium/TechniqueDiamonds, silver, gold, hair, glass
DimensionsOverall (Diameter): 7/8 in. x 5/8 in. (2.24 cm x 1.6 cm)
Credit LineGift of Ted Holden, 1978
Conservation courtesy of Dr. Thomas F. Cleary
Object numberW-2736
DescriptionCircular finger ring featuring a seven rose-cut diamond flower cluster set into silver collet, the whole is flanked by two additional diamonds, one on either side, each stone is set into a gold collet nestled into the forked shoulders of the hoop, the shoulders are further embellished with double s-curves that stand proud of the surface, three of which survive intact; attached to the underside of the rayed setting is a gold bezel surrounding a lock of hair protected by a glass; each gem is backed in foil in a closed setting.Published ReferencesCarol Borchert Cadou, The George Washington Collection: Fine and Decorative Arts at Mount Vernon (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2006), 238.
Martha Gandy Fales, Jewelry in America: 1600-1900 (Woodbridge, Suffolk, England: Antique Collectors' Club, 1995), 29, 31,46.
Martha Gandy Fales, "The Jewelry," Magazine Antiques 135/ 2 (February 1989): 512-513.
Sotheby Parke Burnet Inc., New York, New York, 8 November 1975, Sale 3804, lot 1143.
Cecil Wall, "Agnes Peter Mott Collection," 1956, bound volume, Curatorial File Room, MVLA, photograph number 13, "PFL 492".
Agnes Peter: "Peter Collection (Copy of a list loaned by Miss Agnes Peter, May 1937)," [PFL], MVLA library, 10.
Britannia Wellington Peter Kennon and Agnes Peter Mott, Provenance of Martha Washington's Diamond Ring, c. 1843-1911, Curatorial Documentation File, W-2736, Curatorial File Room, MVLA.
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