Fellowship of the rings: Bentham’s legacy

The world-renowned English philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), and the spiritual forebear of UCL, famously left his remains to science, but his head and strands of his hair are also the key feature of twenty-six memorial rings that had he had made before his death. Bentham, who first made preparations aged 21 for what should be done with his remains after his death, left in his final will and testament a list of the names of twenty-six individuals who were to receive a mourning ring. Each memorial ring features Bentham's engraved signature and a silhouette bust of his head, and on the reverse is a glazed compartment containing his plaited hair. The silhouette portraits of Bentham were created by the artist John Field, who at the time was working by appointment to William IV and Queen Adelaide. It is believed that Field completed the silhouettes in no more than five minutes, due to his incredible skill at capturing a detailed likeness through the medium of portraiture. "The mourning rings were probably commissioned by Bentham in 1822, when he had his silhouette painted by Field. We also know that on 2 November 1822 Bentham's secretary took some of his hair to Field and his partner John Miers for the rings," said Dr Tim Causer, UCL Bentham Project.