- Ring
- Enlarge image
Ring
- Place of origin:
England (made)
- Date:
15th century (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown
- Materials and Techniques:
Engraved silver gilt
- Credit Line:
Given by Dame Joan Evans
- Museum number:
M.244-1962
- Gallery location:
In Storage
Silver or gold 'iconographic' rings engraved with the figures of saints were particularly common in the 14th and 15th century and seem to have been a largely British type. The religious imagery was often combined with romantic inscriptions suggesting that they may sometimes have been used as love gifts or wedding rings. In 1463, John Baret of Bury St Edmunds bequeathed to 'Elizabeth .. my wyf a ryng of golde with an ymage of the Trinite' (Bury Wills, p. 36). They often feature the most venerated saints of the middle ages: Sts Christopher, Catherine, Margaret, Barbara, John the Baptist. The choice of saint was probably dictated by local loyalties, membership of confraternities devoted to a saint or the desire to invoke that saint's help in a particular matter.
