Ring thumbnail 1
Ring thumbnail 2
+8
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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Medieval & Renaissance, Room 62, The Foyle Foundation Gallery

Ring

ca.1500-1530 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This ring forms part of a group known as posy rings. The name is derived from the 'poesy' or motto usually engraved around the hoop. In medieval examples the posy is mostly engraved around the outside of the hoop but later examples find it on the inner surface. Rings with amatory inscriptions can be found from the fourteenth century and would have served as love gifts, betrothal and wedding rings. Documentary sources attest to their use in weddings, for example, in 1550 John Bowyer of Lincoln's Inn in London bought a ring for his bride inscribed DEUS NOS IUNXIT (God joins us together) along with their initials and date of marriage. Posy rings were also given to friends or used to mark significant occasions.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Gold, cast, engraved
Brief description
Gold posy ring, English, about 1500-1530
Physical description
'Posy' ring, gold, the circular hoop engraved with inscriptions in black lettering, on the exterior my.wordely.ioye+alle.my.trust, separated by a cross and stars; on the interior +hert.tought.lyfe.and.lust.
Dimensions
  • Height: 4mm
  • Diameter: 4.5cm
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
Style
Marks and inscriptions
'my.wordely.ioye' 'alle.my.trust' hert.thought.lyfe.and.lust (inscribed on the interior and exterior of the hoop in black letter)
Gallery label
POSY RING Gold. Hoop, inscribed inside in black letter: +my.wordely.ioye+alle.my.trust+hert.tought.lyfe.and.lust ENGLISH: early 16th century 895-1871 This is the full text from Bury, 1982, Case 32, Board L, no.22(1982)
Object history
ex-Waterton. given to Waterton by the Bishop of Newcastle and Hexham.

Historical significance: This ring forms part of a group known as posy rings. The name is derived from the 'poesy' or motto usually engraved around the hoop. In medieval examples the posy is mostly engraved around the outside of the hoop but later examples find it on the inner surface. Rings with amatory inscriptions can be found from the fourteenth century and would have served as love gifts, bethrothal and wedding rings. Posy rings were also given to friends or used to mark significant occasions.

Posies, also known as 'resons' or 'chansons' can also be found on personal items such as gloves, handkerchiefs or painted on trencher plates. They were chosen by the giver or could be taken from published compendiums or commonplace books such as the 1658 "The Mysteries of Love or the Arts of Wooing" or "Love's Garland or Posies for Rings, Hand-kerchers and Gloves and such pretty tokens that Lovers send their Loves" (1674). Goldsmiths would also have kept rings in stock inscribed with a range of posies.
Summary
This ring forms part of a group known as posy rings. The name is derived from the 'poesy' or motto usually engraved around the hoop. In medieval examples the posy is mostly engraved around the outside of the hoop but later examples find it on the inner surface. Rings with amatory inscriptions can be found from the fourteenth century and would have served as love gifts, betrothal and wedding rings. Documentary sources attest to their use in weddings, for example, in 1550 John Bowyer of Lincoln's Inn in London bought a ring for his bride inscribed DEUS NOS IUNXIT (God joins us together) along with their initials and date of marriage. Posy rings were also given to friends or used to mark significant occasions.
Bibliographic references
  • Bury, Shirley, Jewellery Gallery Summary Catalogue, (Victoria and Albert Museum, 1982), p.183, Case 32, Board L, no.22.
  • Oman, C.C. Victoria and Albert Museum Catalogue of Rings, 1930. Ipswich, Anglia Publishing, 1993, cat. no. 658
  • Waterton, Edmund, Dactyliotheca Watertoniana : a descriptive catalogue of the finger-rings in the collection of Mrs. Waterton [manuscript], 1866
  • Evans, Dame Joan English posies and posy rings: a catalogue with an introduction by Joan Evans, Oxford University Press, London, 1931
  • Evans, Sir John Posy Rings, Longman's Magazine, Vol XX, No.115, May 1892
  • French, George Russell (Ed.), A Catalogue of the antiquities and works of art, exhibited at ironmonger's hall, London, in the month of May, 1861, London and Middlesex Archaeological Society and Worshipful Company of Ironmongers, London, Harrison & Sons, 1869
Collection
Accession number
895-1871

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Record createdSeptember 26, 2005
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