Memento Mori-Artful Mourning

Memento Mori is a Latin phrase translated as, "Remember you must die," to remind people of their own mortality.

Memento mori jewelry are fascinating objects of artistry and are becoming rarer and rarer. Starting around 1650 after millions succumbed to the black plague (and a high rate of mortality in general), people wore memento mori jewelry as a reminder, "I will be judged in the end," so to live life to the fullest and purely.

There are many mixed connotations associated with Memento Moris, but many pieces truly are a statement of living rather than death.

From my own private collection, a mid-century Victorian memento mori locket with a lock of blonde hair and an hand carved ox bone skull set with cut steel eyes. This locket is clearly a mourning memento mori hence the lock of hair probably from a deceased loved one encapsulated for an eternity inside the locket.

It is black glass combined with what appears to be Pinchbeck. The front is set with an old mine cut paste stone. It measures 1.77" x 1.10". Truly a spectacular piece.