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Description: | Gold finger ring with large oval bezel plate made from a hoop of circular section which has a lapped joint at the back. The large plate carries a border of beaded gold wire and at the centre has a plain circular collar for a setting (now empty, internal diameter 8mm). The outside of this collar is decorated by two bands of beaded wire, the upper one of finer wire. Springing from the shoulders is a roughly symmetrical pattern of loose scrolls made from ribbons of flattened beaded wire on edge and ending in small granules of gold. Small curls of beaded wire with granules lie above and below the setting. The hoop is distorted with some damage to the applied decoration. Granules and wire are missing. The overall effect is striking although the formal layout and granulation are quite coarse. Three grades of beaded wire were used including ribbon made from beaded wire, all of which suggests a date just before the millennium although the filigree work lacks the binding clips typical of some gold work of this period. There are no close parallels in the varied late Anglo-Saxon repertoire of rings. While it is also true that no close parallel to this ring form has been found in the small number of published Ottonian finger rings, the loose flowing style of the ornament is seen on the Lothar cross at Aachen for example, indicates a continental source in the 10th century. With a gem in the central setting this will have been a spectacular piece.Dimensions and metal content:Maximum dimensions: 30 x 16mm; weight: 11.5g. X-ray fluorescence analysis at the British Museum indicated an approximate gold content of 84 per cent per cent.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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