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Ring

1400-1500 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Rings have been given as signs of love and marriage since Greek and Roman times. This silver ring has been engraved and decorated with niello, a shiny black paste which is pressed into the engraved pattern and polished smooth. The bezel of this ring is nielloed with the profile head of a young woman. Although this might have been intended as a portrait of a particular woman, it is more likely to be an idealised beauty. It may have served a similar purpose to the maiolica dishes known as 'belle donne' or 'beautiful women', where idealised female portraits are associated with romantic verses or the names of local women and are thought to have been gifts, possibly as part of betrothal or wedding ceremonies.

Although a legal marriage in the medieval world could be formed simply by a couple exchanging vows and sealing the agreement with a handclasp, the exchange of a ring solemnised the occasion and could act as a visual proof if the marriage was later disputed. The back of the hoop is formed as a pair of clasped hands, a motif known as 'mani in fede' or hands clasped in faith - representing the handclasp of the marriage service.

This ring forms part of a collection of 760 rings and engraved gems from the collection of Edmund Waterton (1830-87). Waterton was one of the foremost ring collectors of the nineteenth century and was the author of several articles on rings, a book on English devotion to the Virgin Mary and an unfinished catalogue of his collection (the manuscript is now the National Art Library). Waterton was noted for his extravagance and financial troubles caused him to place his collection in pawn with the London jeweller Robert Phillips. When he was unable to repay the loan, Phillips offered to sell the collection to the Museum and it was acquired in 1871. A small group of rings which Waterton had held back were acquired in 1899.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Silver and niello
Brief description
Silver ring with a niello female portrait, the back of the hoop formed of clasped hands. Italy 1400-1500.
Physical description
Flat circular bezel engraved and nielloed with a woman's left profile within an octagon; the shoulders formed of roundesl filled with rosettes. The back of the hoop forms a 'fede' motif of clasped hands.
Dimensions
  • Height: 1.7cm
  • Depth: 2.0cm
  • Width: 2.3cm
Object history
From the Waterton collection . A similar ring from Waterton's collection was shown at the Ironmongers Hall Exhibition in 1861 and described as Florentine. The catalogue states that 'These rings, of which Mr Waterton possesses 6 more, are Florentine, and rare, the owner only knowing of two more beside his own. They belong to a very interesting class of nielloed rings, and it is supposed that they were presents from ladies to their lovers.'
5 of the 11 nielloed silver rings which Waterton listed in his manuscript catalogue were acquired in Rome or Florence in the 1850s and 60s.
Summary
Rings have been given as signs of love and marriage since Greek and Roman times. This silver ring has been engraved and decorated with niello, a shiny black paste which is pressed into the engraved pattern and polished smooth. The bezel of this ring is nielloed with the profile head of a young woman. Although this might have been intended as a portrait of a particular woman, it is more likely to be an idealised beauty. It may have served a similar purpose to the maiolica dishes known as 'belle donne' or 'beautiful women', where idealised female portraits are associated with romantic verses or the names of local women and are thought to have been gifts, possibly as part of betrothal or wedding ceremonies.

Although a legal marriage in the medieval world could be formed simply by a couple exchanging vows and sealing the agreement with a handclasp, the exchange of a ring solemnised the occasion and could act as a visual proof if the marriage was later disputed. The back of the hoop is formed as a pair of clasped hands, a motif known as 'mani in fede' or hands clasped in faith - representing the handclasp of the marriage service.

This ring forms part of a collection of 760 rings and engraved gems from the collection of Edmund Waterton (1830-87). Waterton was one of the foremost ring collectors of the nineteenth century and was the author of several articles on rings, a book on English devotion to the Virgin Mary and an unfinished catalogue of his collection (the manuscript is now the National Art Library). Waterton was noted for his extravagance and financial troubles caused him to place his collection in pawn with the London jeweller Robert Phillips. When he was unable to repay the loan, Phillips offered to sell the collection to the Museum and it was acquired in 1871. A small group of rings which Waterton had held back were acquired in 1899.
Bibliographic references
  • A catalogue of the antiquities and works of art exhibited at Ironmongers Hall in the month of May 1861, edited by George Russell French, London 1869, vol ii, p.508
  • Oman, Charles, Catalogue of rings in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1930, reprinted Ipswich, 1993, p.103, cat. 641
  • Waterton, Edmund Dactyliotheca Watertoniana: a descriptive catalogue of the finger-rings in the collection of Mrs Waterton, (manuscript, 1866, now in National Art Library), pp.129-30
  • Waterton, Edmund 'On niello', Archaeological Journal, vol XIX, London 1862, pp.323-339
Collection
Accession number
872-1871

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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