Anonymous

Why a Skull Ring? I can?t speak for everyone but I will give it a go. I do understand the question, the skull as a symbol has both positive and negative connotations life affirming and life ending. On the negative side there is the connection with the Nazi?s, the occult, human sacrifice etc... In pre ? columbian america, the skull was given an honored place in the religious iconography of the aztecs and related tribes of mexico. their descendants, both indians and people of mixed european and native american heritage, continue to venerate the skull and the skeleton during the national ?day of the dead? ceremonies, when skulls made of sugar are eaten and offerings are placed on the graves of deceased relatives and friends. There is a history of using the skull as an icon in the West; it exists in Classical/Renaissance literature. philosophy and art. From the Middle Ages in the West, skulls acted as memento mori, reminders that time passes rapidly, life is not endless, and earthly things are transient. They appeared on funerary monuments, in still-life paintings, and were held as representations of saints. An example is the still life vanitas vanitatum of the middle ages, a reminder of the transitory quality of earthly pleasure symbolized by a skull. pictorial arrangements are dealing with the vanity of the intellectual world (globe, books), and of the ?vita voluptaria? (musical instruments, smoking implements). 
Often painters continued the old tradition of including appropriate captions or texts on their pictures. the favorite was the admonition from ecclesiastes I: ?vanity of vanities; all is vanity?. The transience of human existence is often brought out also by other symbols like the candle and the hourglass. Memento mori is a Latin phrase meaning "Remember you shall die". It names a genre of artistic creations that vary widely from one another, but which all share the same purpose: to remind people of their own mortality, to appreciate life and to waste no time ?Carpe Diem? (seize the day). During the Renaissance Memento Mori could be an artistic work and were often in the form of a personal object - necklace, ring, belt or belt buckle perhaps even a walking cane....I wonder if this ring became Keith Richard's personal Memento Mori? I did see in a book that in an interview with Keith the ring acts as a reminder that all of us are the same under the flesh, no matter what our station in life we are all the same in the end. My personal copy of the ring has been my constant companion over the last 6 weeks, the shadow finish has aged very well, it rubs away leaving areas of high shine and more areas of graduated shadow, it really is a work of art, as opposed to being just a ?skull? ring, it is superbly detailed and finished, it is the type of thing that ultimately becomes a family heirloom....once again, well done Bill and David. Desert Rat (Anthony)