A rare ivory miniature mourning ring, by Bernard Lens III, from the 18th century, with a glazed miniature identified as Mary, Queen of Scots, within a border of woven gold thread, to openwork shoulders and a fluted band, mounted in gold.

Ring Size O 1/2

Measurements: 1.3 x 1.0cm

There is a portrait miniature in the Royal Collection, 'RCIN 420113' for an early example of this portrait by Bernard Lens III (1682-1740). It was reproduced many times by Lens on the order of his patron, the 4th Duke of Hamilton, who had discovered the original portrait and identified it as Mary, Queen of Scots - a fashionable and romantic historical figure, viewed sympathetically among his contemporaries at the courts of Queen Anne and George I. The true identity of the figure, however, is unknown, and is more likely to be Mary Bellenden, later the Duchess of Argyll (c.1690-1735).