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Description: | A late Roman gold finger ring of unusual type. The hoop, which is broadly oval in profile, is decorated on the outer surface by a series of stepped mouldings, with the appearance of scales or even crude hands. These descend from the shoulder to the bottom of the hoop, five on each side, terminating at the foot with two further steps with grooves which run transverse to the other two sets. The bezel consists of three parallel ovular box settings, the outer two of which contain garnets. The central one is empty but perhaps originally contained a pearl; on each corner, this setting is flanked by a roughly spherical pellet. The ring is in good condition, only a little worn, and has slight traces of damage - a small splinter of gold protrudes over the top of one of the outer bezel settings.Discussion. Whereas the other rings in the Bowerchalke hoard can be paralleled in finds such as the Thetford treasure, this ring is harder to find good comparisons for. It has loose affinities with an emeral set ring from the Lyon-Lazaristes hoard of 1841 (Sas & Thoen 2002, 225, with references), but its closest ally is a ring from Bealink, Suffolk, now in the British Museum. The Bealink ring also has three parallel settings on the bezel, although of different shapes, with those on the flanks being round and the central one square (Marshall 1968, no. 861). Nevertheless all the settings contain garnets, providing an obvious affinity with this ring. The hoop is also similar to the Bowerchalke example, as it consists of a series of fluted beads formed by incised rings placed at intervals.Date. The use of granulation and the style of the ring provides a late fourth century AD date for manufacture.Dimensions. Weight 5.77g. External diameter max 22.54mm. Internal diameter 15.36-19.39mm.
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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