Ring thumbnail 1
Ring thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Jewellery, Rooms 91, The William and Judith Bollinger Gallery

Ring

c. 1250-1300 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Rings are the most commonly surviving medieval jewels. They were worn by both sexes, across all levels of society. Some portraits show wearers with multiple rings across all their fingers.

Sapphires used in medieval jewellery came from Sri Lanka, and could be found in a number of different colours, although blue is the most common. Until the fifteenth century gems were usually cut en cabochon, that is to say, simply polished into a rounded shape. The often irregular stone meant that a claw setting was one of the most effective ways of holding the gem in place.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Gold; blue sapphire, purple sapphires
Brief description
Gold ring, the projecting four claw bezel is set with a sapphire, flanked by small purple sapphires. Europe, c. 1250-1300.
Physical description
Gold ring, the projecting four claw bezel set with a large blue sapphire, flanked by small purple sapphires, each in a circular setting.
Dimensions
  • Height: 2.7cm
  • Width: 2.1cm
  • Depth: 1.4cm
Object history
Found at Epsom. Ex Harman-Oates Collection
Summary
Rings are the most commonly surviving medieval jewels. They were worn by both sexes, across all levels of society. Some portraits show wearers with multiple rings across all their fingers.

Sapphires used in medieval jewellery came from Sri Lanka, and could be found in a number of different colours, although blue is the most common. Until the fifteenth century gems were usually cut en cabochon, that is to say, simply polished into a rounded shape. The often irregular stone meant that a claw setting was one of the most effective ways of holding the gem in place.
Bibliographic reference
Campbell, Marian, Medieval Jewellery in Europe 1100-1500, London, V&A Publishing, 2009, p. 29, fig. 25
Collection
Accession number
M.7-1929

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Record createdMarch 13, 2006
Record URL
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