The present ring is an astoundingly well-preserved example of an enamelled posy ring—a type of jewel which is characterized by the inscription of a short motto or poem, either on the interior or exterior of the band. Posy rings first appeared in Europe in the middle ages, largely a product the newly conceived concept of courtly love. Unsurprisingly posy rings, often romantic in theme, were used as wedding rings, though also sometimes purely as love tokens.
Posy rings remained popular through the nineteenth century, the earliest examples of which bear inscriptions on the exterior, often in Latin or French, and later posies appearing on the interior of the ring, in English. Once inscriptions on the interior became the norm, the exterior was vacant for decoration, and posy rings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in particular bear colourful enamelling. However, because of its highly delicate nature, most enamel work does not survive, making the present ring a prize, museum-quality example.
Elements of the decoration of this ring date back before medieval times, to the custom of Roman wedding rings. In ancient Rome the joining of hands (known as the dextrarum iunctio, in Latin) marked the consecration of the marriage ceremony, and in turn some examples of betrothal rings appear from the second century AD onward which feature a handshake. Eventually love rings featuring two clasped hands came to be known as fede rings, ‘fede’ meaning ‘faith’ in Italian. Hearts became a popular decorative motif in the middle ages, and were perhaps a natural addition to the design scheme, combining the symbolism of faith and love.
Regarding the date, the inscription, the style of script, and the design of the enamelled decoration, all suggest that this ring was made in the late seventeenth. The central ornament of intertwined hearts flanked by hands is highly similar to the enamelled pictogram on the interior of a seventeenth century posy ring in the collection of the British Museum (Figure 1, AF.1409). Though it is on the interior of the ring, the British Museum example also bears cuffed hands in white enamel and overlapping red hearts. Not a posy but with the same motif, a ring in the Victoria and Albert museum (Figure 2, 302.1867) with a bezel composed of two similarly gloved hands flanking a crowned heart shaped diamond is inscribed with a date of 1706.
Further to the date, the motto is also the same to that on the British Museum posy ring, though pictographic, demonstrating the popularity of this particular poem at the time. The same poem, but in written form, as on the Berganza ring, also appears on a ring cited in Dame Joan Evans’ seminal book on posy rings, English Posies and Posy Rings; she lists a ring which, engraved with the same poem, with identical spelling, dated circa 1659.
Until now this ring has remained in the same family for over two hundred and fifty years. According to the owners it was given as a wedding ring, but never worn, which helps to explain the immaculate condition of the enamelling. A comparison with the condition of the enamelling on the British Museum and Victorian and Albert Museum comparables further underlines the rarity of such pristine enamelling, and in turn—being of like design and vastly better condition—the importance of such a ring.
REFERENCES
Charles Oman, British Rings: 800-1914, London: B.T. Batsford Ltd., 1974.
Diana Scarisbrick, Rings: Jewelry of Power, Love and Loyalty, London: Thames and Hudson, 2007.
Joan Evans, English Posies and Posy Rings, London: Oxford University Press, 1931.
Figure 1
Figure 2
