One of our favorite passages relating to the use of hair in 19th century mourning jewelry comes from Godey's Lady's Book of 1860: "Hair is at once the most delicate and lasting of our materials and survives us like love. It is so light, so gentle, so escaping from the idea of death, that, with a lock of hair belonging to a child or friend, we may almost look to heaven and compare notes with angelic nature, may almost say: 'I have a piece of thee here, not unworthy of thy being now.'" This sentiment is all the more poignant when the jewelry in question memorializes a child. This beautiful mourning ring for Walter Spencer, who died at the tragically young age of 12, features and black and white enameled face with a weeping willow over a mausoleum. The black tomb houses a hair locket with a "WS" cipher and the mourning scene is framed by halo of seed pearls. The reverse side is engraved, "Walter Spencer Ob 17 Jan. 1815. Aet. 12."