Context (Display)
Previously mounted on patterned paper-wrapped display board with handwritten label.: 'GOLD RING containing hair of MARY TUDOR Queen of France dau. of Henry VII apparently taken from coffin on 6 Sept. 1784 LATE XVIII CENT S.COWLES.'
On reverse in pencil: 'Ring with hair of Mary Qu. of France d. of Henry VII / D. S. Cowles'
Event Date
Author: Imogen Gunn

Context (Field collection)
Catalogue card: 'apparently removed from her coffin when it was opened on 6th Sept. 1784'
Event Date 6/9/1784
Author: Katrina Dring

Context (Field collection)
Mary Tudor (1496-1533), Queen of France and daughter of Henry VII, was buried in the Church of St Mary, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Her tomb was opened on 6 September 1784, and locks of her hair was removed and enclosed in lockets and rings, including one owned by Horace Walpole (now owned by the Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University). This ring, apparently containing Mary Tudor's hair, was donated to the Museum by Samuel Cowles, who worked for the Museum for almost 40 years until 1932. There is currently no record of where or when he obtained the ring.
Event Date 6/9/1784
Author: Imogen Gunn

Context (References)
Tymms, Samuel. (1854). 'An Architectural and Historical Account of the Church of St Mary, Bury St Edmunds'. London: Simpkin and Marshall, p 179
Event Date 1854
Author: Imogen Gunn

Description (Physical description)
Catalogue card: 'Gold plated ring containing hair of Mary Tudor, Queen of France and daughter of Henry VII'
Event Date 1922
Author: maa

Context (Display)
Exhibited in 'Gold: Britain's Glorious Riches', The Goldsmiths' Company, 1 June - 28 July 2012.
Event Date 1/6/2012
Author: Imogen Gunn

Description (Physical description)
Gold plated or rose gold finger ring with hair from Mary Tudor, Queen of France. Sub-rectangular bezel with coiled hair and glass setting within a border of gold wire; composite hoop flares at the shoulders to meet the corners of the bezel; hoop composed of two pieces of wire with circular cross-section flanking a central length which tapers to a point where it meets the bezel.
Event Date 8/2/2024
Author: Katrina Dring