Jewellery in the Roman world carried symbolic meaning as well as signifying wealth and status. This very small ring is engraved with a figure of Victory - the Roman personification of victory, a figure which was widely worshipped and can be found on jewellery, architecture and coins. Images of Mars, Minerva and Victory were commonly engraved on gemstones and jewellery found at military sites but the size of this ring suggests that it might have been intended for a child. Jewellery for children was sometimes engraved with protective devices such as a phallus and the figure of Victory may have served the same function.

This ring forms part of a collection of 760 rings and engraved gems from the collection of Edmund Waterton (1830-87). Waterton was one of the foremost ring collectors of the nineteenth century and was the author of several articles on rings, a book on English devotion to the Virgin Mary and an unfinished catalogue of his collection (the manuscript is now the National Art Library). Waterton was noted for his extravagance and financial troubles caused him to place his collection in pawn with the London jeweller Robert Phillips. When he was unable to repay the loan, Phillips offered to sell the collection to the Museum and it was acquired in 1871. A small group of rings which Waterton had held back were acquired in 1899.