|
Date: |
|
Description: | Treasure case 2013 T71: Disclaimed and returned to finderSilver (possibly silver-gilt) finger ring inscribed + IN DOMINO CONFIDO (In God I Trust) on the outer side and with a makers mark on the inner side.The ring is a flat band, rectangular in section. On the outer side there are raised borders top and bottom flanking a recessed central band. The borders both consist of raised upper and lower plain lines flanking a row of closely spaced raised dots within a recessed line. The borders are level with the top and bottom of the ring. The recessed central band is plain apart from the inscribed legend in evenly spaced roman capitals starting with a cross pattee. The maker's mark is stamped on the inner side, roughly level with the D of DOMINI, and is possibly a lombardic E as it appears to consist of a recessed oval or C shape with two raised circles, one above the other, down the centre. The mark could also possibly be two letters in a heart shaped shield.There are a few dents and scratches on the ring and a fine line level with the F of CONFIDO may indicate where the band was originally joined into a ring.There maybe some slight traces of worn gilding around the legend band on the outer side, but this is not clear.Dimensions: The ring is slightly distorted and is now 22.6mm by 21.7mm externally. It is 1.3 to 1.1mm thick and 7.9 to 8.1mm wide. It weighs 5.03 g.Discussion: This finger ring is identical in style, even to the form of the upper and lower borders, to several other rings that have previously been through the Treasure process and are dated to the 16th to 17th century. They have a mix of religious, romantic or momento mori inscriptions in Latin and English. See SUR-126873 (2011 T293), GLO-19A336 (2007 T383), SWYOR-F5ABF6 (2011 T613), BUC-F0E2D5 (2003 T145), BERK-E8E7C6 (2006 T7), SUR-3AF8A5 and DOR-71A791 (2008 T407).For comparison also see AF. 1747 in the British Museum collections, a serjeants ring with a date of 1577, and Oman (1974, plate 58i) a gold ring with identical borders dated to the second half of the 16th century.Such rings are often gilded but any traces are very faint and uncertain on this example. The maker's mark cannot be identified.Consequently, in terms of age and as the object contains a minimum of 10% precious metal it qualifies as Treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure Act 1996.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
|
More Like this...
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
MOUNT
Treasure case 2011 T358: DisclaimedDescription:…
-
-
|