Ravensbury Antiques

Ravensbury Antiques Jewels That Have Stood the Test of Time...

A Rare and Unique Collection of Antique Jewellery ✨

MEMENTO MORI: A TUDOR RING OVER 400 YEARS OLDFor more than four centuries, the words engraved around this ring have carr...
06/08/2026

MEMENTO MORI: A TUDOR RING OVER 400 YEARS OLD

For more than four centuries, the words engraved around this ring have carried the same message: Memento Mori, “remember that you must die”.

Made in England during the second half of the 16th century, the high-karat gold ring is centred by a skull figure outline, which would have originally been enamelled.

Such rings transformed a deeply Christian meditation on mortality into something intimate and wearable: a stark reminder of death, but also of the importance of living fully.

Death’s-head rings are documented among the Tudor elite, including one listed in Catherine Parr’s jewel inventory of 1549.

This example was discovered near Canterbury, Kent, in 2022. It was recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme, assessed by the British Museum and declared Treasure under PAS ID KENT-9D54D6 and Treasure case number 2022T1206.

Ring size: UK N, US 6.5.

A rare object carrying one of history’s most enduring messages.

A charming 19th-century carnelian intaglio ring, circa 1860. The stone is finely carved with the laureate profile of a R...
05/08/2026

A charming 19th-century carnelian intaglio ring, circa 1860. The stone is finely carved with the laureate profile of a Roman emperor.

The gold mount, testing as 14K, is decorated with delicate wirework and granulation in the Etruscan Revival style, with a twisted border framing the warm carnelian.

UK size O, US size 7.25.

04/08/2026

Memento Mori — Remember You Must Die

For centuries, memento mori jewellery served as a powerful reminder of mortality, combining extraordinary craftsmanship with symbols of death, faith and the fleeting nature of life.

Its message was simple but profound: “Remember you must die” — and therefore, remember to live well.

Scroll through a selection of my favourite pieces, drawn from museum collections including the British Museum, Rijks Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

A famous painting, transformed into a jewel.This remarkable pendant reproduces La Communion d’Atala by Pierre-Jérôme Lor...
30/07/2026

A famous painting, transformed into a jewel.

This remarkable pendant reproduces La Communion d’Atala by Pierre-Jérôme Lordon, first exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1808 and now held in the Musée du Louvre.

Inspired by Chateaubriand’s tragic novel Atala, the painting shows the dying heroine receiving communion while Chactas, the man she loves, grieves beside her. Its themes of forbidden love, faith and sacrifice made it one of the defining stories of early Romantic Europe.

But the history of this pendant begins with a collector who did not want great art to remain confined to gallery walls.

The painting belonged to Giovanni Battista Sommariva, a major patron of the Napoleonic and Neoclassical period. From his villa on Lake Como, he assembled a celebrated collection of contemporary European art, then searched for ways to make those works portable.

Between around 1810 and 1825, Sommariva commissioned miniature enamel versions of 99 paintings from his collection, creating what he called a portable picture gallery. He also asked the renowned gem engraver Giovanni Beltrami to translate selected works into intaglios.

Made circa 1810–1815, this pâte-de-verre impression reduces Lordon’s dramatic canvas to an object small enough to hold, examine and wear.

The mottled red glass was designed to resemble carved agate. Its recessed image could also be pressed into warm sealing wax, causing the scene to appear again in relief as a tiny sculptural impression.

Mounted in an 18K gold frame bearing the crossed keys and papal umbrella linking it to the vatican workshops, the pendant brings together painting, literature, gem engraving, devotion and jewellery in one extraordinary object.

A painting that could leave the gallery, travel through Europe and be carried close to the body.

Available on our website.

From a time when the Mughal courts were among the most magnificent in the world comes this remarkable South Indian arsi,...
26/07/2026

From a time when the Mughal courts were among the most magnificent in the world comes this remarkable South Indian arsi, or mirror ring.

Crafted in the 18th century using the traditional kundan technique, the high-karat gold ring is set with cabochon rubies surrounding a central mirror, together with a single emerald.

The rare heart-shaped design sets it apart from the more commonly encountered circular examples.

Size: C½ (UK) / 1.75 (US)

The beauty of Emeralds. Rings from our collection.Few gemstones have inspired such enduring fascination as the emerald. ...
23/07/2026

The beauty of Emeralds. Rings from our collection.

Few gemstones have inspired such enduring fascination as the emerald. Prized since antiquity, its vivid green has adorned the jewels of emperors, queens and collectors for millennia. The Romans even believed that gazing into an emerald could soothe weary eyes.

Each stone is distinct, marked by subtle variations in colour and the natural inclusions that give emeralds their individual character.

Spanning more than a century of design, these rings reveal the many ways jewellers have celebrated this remarkable stone.

But look closely: one is not set with emeralds at all, but with green paste, a brilliant form of glass fashionable in 18th-century France. Can you spot it?

Each ring has its own story. Discover them on our website.

A rare mid-17th-century table-cut ruby ring, made in the Low Countries around 1650.The high-karat gold ring is set with ...
20/07/2026

A rare mid-17th-century table-cut ruby ring, made in the Low Countries around 1650.

The high-karat gold ring is set with a richly coloured ruby in a raised rectangular box bezel, a form characteristic of Renaissance jewellery, with small scalloped details around the sides.

Size: P (UK) / 7.5 (US)

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