Enamelled gold ring with a hexagonal fluted box bezel set with a turquoise, the shoulders with a disc motif, Western Europe, ca. 1550

Ring, gold, enamel and set with a turquoise. The plain hoop with hexagonal box bezel set with a turquoise. The shoulders are decorated with a motif of imbricated discs and retain traces of black enamel. The fluted and sloping bezel has a beaded edge and retains traces of black enamel.

ex Waterton Collection

Historical significance: This tiny ring probably belonged to a child. A small group of similar turquoise set rings survive in the British Museum (Dalton cat. nos. 1902-04), the Kunstgewerbemuseum, Koln (cat. no. 248) and the Hashimoto collection (Scarisbrick, cat. nos. 156-7).
Turquoise has long been reputed to have protective and talismanic qualities. In 1569, Fenton's 'Secret Wonders of Nature' describes its ability to protect the wearer from harm: "the turkeys doth move when there is any peril prepared to him that weareth it".
John Donne (1572-1631) wrote about the turquoise's ability to reflect the health of its wearer:
The compassionate turquoise, that doth tell
By looking pale the wearer is not well"

Turquoises were also believed to restore harmony between husbands and wives. The Cambridge scholar Thomas Nicols's 1659 A Lapidary or History of Precious stones claimed that turquoise was not only a delight to the eye but strengthened the sight and renewed the bond between man and wife.
The number of very small turquoise rings surviving may suggest that the stone had some particularly beneficial or protective effect for young children.

This extremely small ring probably belonged to a child. It is set with a turquoise, long reputed to have protective and talismanic qualities. It was considered to protect the wearer from harm and to reflect the health of its wearer. Turquoise was also believed to restore harmony between husbands and wives. The Cambridge scholar Thomas Nicols's 1659 A Lapidary or History of Precious stones claimed that turquoise was not only a delight to the eye but strengthened the sight and renewed the bond between man and wife.

The number of small turquoise rings that survive may suggest that the stone had some particularly beneficial or protective effect for young children.

955-1871