Signet Ring
1400-1500 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This ring would have been used as a signet, pressed into hot wax to seal a letter or packet. Personal seals (secreta) provided an essential legal safeguard and were used to witness documents such as wills, deeds of gift, loans and commercial documents, personal letters and land indentures.
Signet rings could be engraved with a coat of arms or crest, an initial, a merchant's mark (a geometric symbol used to mark goods or personal belongings), or a personal symbol. Sixteenth and seventeenth century portraits show signet rings worn on the forefinger or thumb, presumably to make it easy to apply the ring to the wax by turning the hand. They were items of jewellery with a practical function but the use of precious metals and engraved hardstones indicates that they were also signs of status.
The bezel of this ring is engraved with a falcon in a fetterlock, a design which was previously used by Edward IV.
Signet rings could be engraved with a coat of arms or crest, an initial, a merchant's mark (a geometric symbol used to mark goods or personal belongings), or a personal symbol. Sixteenth and seventeenth century portraits show signet rings worn on the forefinger or thumb, presumably to make it easy to apply the ring to the wax by turning the hand. They were items of jewellery with a practical function but the use of precious metals and engraved hardstones indicates that they were also signs of status.
The bezel of this ring is engraved with a falcon in a fetterlock, a design which was previously used by Edward IV.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Engraved gold |
| Brief description | Gold signet ring with a circular bezel engraved with a falcon in a fetterlock, England, 1400-1500. |
| Physical description | Gold signet ring with a circular bezel engraved with a falcon (?) in a fetterlock. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Given by Dame Joan Evans |
| Historical context | The badge of falcon and fetterlock is associated with the House of York, but the ring is too late to have a direct connection with Edmund de Langley, Duke of York (1341-1402) |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Association | |
| Summary | This ring would have been used as a signet, pressed into hot wax to seal a letter or packet. Personal seals (secreta) provided an essential legal safeguard and were used to witness documents such as wills, deeds of gift, loans and commercial documents, personal letters and land indentures. Signet rings could be engraved with a coat of arms or crest, an initial, a merchant's mark (a geometric symbol used to mark goods or personal belongings), or a personal symbol. Sixteenth and seventeenth century portraits show signet rings worn on the forefinger or thumb, presumably to make it easy to apply the ring to the wax by turning the hand. They were items of jewellery with a practical function but the use of precious metals and engraved hardstones indicates that they were also signs of status. The bezel of this ring is engraved with a falcon in a fetterlock, a design which was previously used by Edward IV. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.205-1975 |
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| Record created | February 15, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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