What does a winged hourglass mean?

Tempus fugit - "time flies". The winged hourglass is one of the most potent images of Baroque allegory on transience. The trickling sand shows the unstoppable passing of time; the wings emphasise the speed of that passing. Frequently combined with the inscription Tempus fugit, memento mori or Hora ruit, mors venit ("The hour runs, death comes").

Where does the hourglass appear in mourning jewellery?

Above all in Baroque and late Baroque pieces. On skull rings frequently as an accompanying element beside the skull; in skeleton pendants as a small modelled element in the open interior; in memento mori lockets as an enamel relief on the front; in Stuart mourning rings as part of an inscription border. It has practically vanished from Victorian mourning jewellery - Victorian visual language prefers the urn and the weeping willow to the hourglass.

Does the hourglass have a religious meaning?

It has a theological connotation, yes. In the Christian memento mori tradition the hourglass stands for the vita brevis - the short earthly life - and admonishes the viewer to prepare for eternal life. In Catholic contexts it is often combined with a cross or an angel element (hope of redemption). In Protestant contexts it is more strongly individualised - a call to take stock of one's own life and to be ready to die.

Hourglass

The hourglass is one of the oldest and most potent memento mori symbols - sand run through as an image of the passing of a lifetime, often given wings (tempus fugit, "time flies") and a standard cipher on mourning jewellery from the Baroque into the early nineteenth century.

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