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Description: | Medieval gold finger ring. The bezel consists of a lion couchant, moulded in high relief and soldered to the hoop. The beast's rump is faceted with multiple hammer marks. There are deeply moulded grooves on the mane and paws, and a deep groove for the mouth, but the top of the lion's head is worn smooth, with only traces surviving of grooves indicating the nose and eyes. A separate circular sectioned piece of wire extends from the lion's mouth to between its paws, curving back up towards the nose before a break. The hoop in front of the lion is plain before a transverse ridge and slightly raised rectangular panel with a rough surface where a now missing element was soldered to the hoop. The wire extending from the lion's mouth may represent a long tongue, or have been part of the missing element.The flat sectioned hoop has an external black letter inscription. Inscription, in German, reads 'Ich lidet gherne' which has been interpreted to mean 'I bear willingly'. The same inscription occurs on a gold finger ring in the British Museum collection (AF 1049), see O.M. Dalton, Catalogue of Finger Rings in the British Museum, (1912) no.931. There is an engraved feather or leaf at the start of the inscription, between the first and second word, and two feathers between the second and third word. To either side of the inscription the band is angled and decorated with engraved triangles, perhaps intended as keying for enamel, creating a zigzag effect.15th Century.Weight 4.2g. External diameter (excluding lion) 21mm. Internal diameter 18mm. Height 26mm. Width 4mm.
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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