ONE MARK OF RICHARD HUMPHREYS, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, CIRCA 1770, THE OTHER MARK OF JACOB HURD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, CIRCA 1750

Details

TWO AMERICAN GOLD RINGS
ONE MARK OF RICHARD HUMPHREYS, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, CIRCA 1770, THE OTHER MARK OF JACOB HURD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, CIRCA 1750
The posy ring by Humphreys engraved on the interior God above united our love, marked on the interior RH in a rectangle, the mourning ring by Hurd chased with a stylized skull flanked by wings, further engraved on the interior P. Otis ob: 27 NOV 1750 AE, marked on interior HURD in a rectangle (Kane mark D)
3⁄4 in. (1.9 cm.) diameter, each
4 dwt. (6 gr.)

Provenance

In honor of Priscilla Otis (1721-1750) (the Hurd example).
With Jonathan Trace, New York, circa 1980's (the Humphreys example).

Exhibited

New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, long term loan, 2009-2022.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

The example by Hurd is likely in memory of Priscilla Otis (1721-1750) who died unmarried at the age of 29 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The daughter of Job Otis Sr. (1677-1758) and Mercy Little (1678-1755), Priscilla was part of only the second generation of Otis' born in the American colonies after her grandfather John Otis (1621-1684) had emigrated from Glastonbury, England to Scituate, Plymouth Colony.

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