Antique Gold Fob Seal Charm Bracelet
the contemporary 14k gold curb-link bracelet with six late 18th-/early 19th-century rolled gold and karat gold fobs, four set with carnelian (three with intaglio seals), one with a bloodstone intaglio seal engraved with the arms of Hardinge of Bounds Park, Kent, and one with a citrine intaglio seal engraved with the arms of Wilshere of Hitchen, Herts, and a memorial inscription on the stirrup. l. 7-1/2", 178.7 grams

Provenance: Estate of William Harvey Osborn, New Orleans, Louisiana.

Notes: The citrine seal with the arms of Wilshere is engraved on the fob stirrup: "Jane Maria Blake Ob. 21 Dec 1814". Her burial at age 22 is recorded at All Saint's Church, Fulham, Middlesex on December 27, 1814. She was the daughter of Valentine Blake (1765-1798), of Mullaghmore and Windfield, county Galway, and Anna Maria Roper (1765-1810). Her will, written in September of 1814, with revisions in October and December, was probated on May 18, 1815. One of the witnesses was W. Wilshere, and a bequest in her last codicil reads "to my kind friend Mr. Wilshere I bequeath a seal"; i.e., that a memorial seal in her honor be made for him. This, evidently, is that seal.