Casgliadau Arlein

Gold memento mori ring with a flat bezel in the form of a central square, each side having a projecting semi-circular lobe engraved with a leaf, to form a quatrefoil design. The outer surface of the bezel square is engraved with a death’s head (a skull), inlaid with traces of white enamel, surrounded by the inscription: + Memento Mori, in small neat italic script. The shoulders are cast with scrolls in green enamel, with white enamel ‘stems’ below. Much of the inscription and engraved design remains infilled with soil, and it is not clear whether these were originally inlaid with enamel, possibly black. The underside of the bezel bears the touch mark S.

The Latin term 'Memento mori' means 'Remember that you [have to] die'.