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Auction: 25360 - The 360th Anniversary Sale
Lot: 53

SPENCER PERCEVAL MOURNING RING, BY SAMUEL GLOVER

Spencer Perceval Enamel Mourning Ring (c.1811-1812), gold band with black enamel detail, the exterior engraved with the inscription, 'RT. HON: SPENCER. PERCEVAL OB: 11.MAY.1812 .AE.49', and the interior engraved with the inscription 'died by the hand of an Assassin', with London hallmarks for 1811, maker's mark 'SG' for Samuel Glover, diameter 18mm, width 10mm, thickness 1mm, 4.95g, ring size approx. N 1/2, [Spink XRF: 87.5% Gold; 12.5% Copper] (BM AF.1517; V&A M.166-1962; Fitzwilliam Museum PER.M.203-1923).
Some scuffs and scratches to the enamel, no major chips or cracks. Hallmark and inscription clear. Other examples of these mourning rings are held by the Fitzwilliam Museum, the British Museum and the V&A.

John Belligham assassinated the then Tory Prime Minister Spencer Percival on May 11th 1812 in the lobby of the Houses of Parliament, shotting him in the heart at point blank range. He then sat and awaited arrest, being charged and then executed quickly on the 18th May 1812. Bellingham a Liverpool merchant had been imprisoned for five years for insurance fraud in Russia, bankrupting him. He appealed to help from the British Government to no avail and vowed after his release to avenge this. No other British Prime Minister has been assassinated.

At his Old Bailey trial on 15 May 1812, presided over by Sir James Mansfield, Bellingham showed no regret for his crime:

"Finding myself thus bereft of all hopes of redress, my affairs ruined by my long imprisonment in Russia through the fault of the British minister, my property all dispersed for want of my own attention, my family driven into tribulation and want, my wife and child claiming support, which I was unable to give them, myself involved in difficulties, and pressed on all sides by claims I could not answer; and that justice refused to me which is the duty of government to give, not as a matter of favour, but of right; and Mr. Perceval obstinately refusing to sanction my claims in Parliament; and I trust this fatal catastrophe will be warning to other ministers."



Provenance

The Davies-Cooke Collection from Gwysaney Hall, North Wales, owing to this provenance, it is possible that the ring belonged to Bryan Cooke. He became the MP for Malton in 1811.

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Estimate
£6,000 to £8,000

Starting price
£4200