This strange and beautiful memento mori ring is from the collection of the Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford. Showing a woman’s(?) face on one side and an enamelled skull on the other, this late 17th-century gold ring is meant to serve as a reminder that the wearer will one day die.
There are plenty of other examples of memento mori jewellery featuring skulls from the 16th and 17th centuries, but this one seems unusual because of the ‘alive’ face it features on the reverse. (And don’t you think the cherubic face is just as creepy as the skull?) I know very little about historical rings, but in her article on mourning jewellery Margriet Sopers mentions Roman memento mori iconography which feature ‘Cupid-like figures holding a torch of life with the flame extinguished‘. Perhaps this helps explain the presence of the face? I couldn’t find any other examples of the dual-faced design, so if anyone knows of others please give a link in the comments!