Introduction

Americans, like their English counterparts, wore rings, brooches, pendants, and other jewels in memory of  family and friends. Over the centuries a striking range of design, styles and craftsmanship was employed, from the simple gold bands of the 17th century to the intricate and opulent earring and brooch sets of the late Victorian era. The way memorial jewelry was worn also shifted over the years and these changes tell the story of a culture’s changing sensibility around death and grief. Commemorating the death of a loved one was manifest in a variety of media including broadsides, paintings, portraits, and textiles. This website shows representative examples of the ways in which our ancestors mourned.