Signet Ring
1500-1600 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This ring would have been used as a signet, pressed into hot wax to seal a letter or packet. Personal seals (secreta) provided an essential legal safeguard and were used to witness documents such as wills, deeds of gift, loans and commercial documents, personal letters and land indentures.
Signet rings could be engraved with a coat of arms or crest, an initial, a merchant's mark (a geometric symbol used to mark goods or personal belongings), or a personal symbol. Sixteenth and seventeenth century portraits show signet rings worn on the forefinger or thumb, presumably to make it easy to apply the ring to the wax by turning the hand. They were items of jewellery with a practical function but the use of precious metals and engraved hardstones indicates that they were also signs of status.
The bezel of this ring is engraved with a heraldic crested helmet and the letters M and P, most likely the initials of the ring's owner.
Signet rings could be engraved with a coat of arms or crest, an initial, a merchant's mark (a geometric symbol used to mark goods or personal belongings), or a personal symbol. Sixteenth and seventeenth century portraits show signet rings worn on the forefinger or thumb, presumably to make it easy to apply the ring to the wax by turning the hand. They were items of jewellery with a practical function but the use of precious metals and engraved hardstones indicates that they were also signs of status.
The bezel of this ring is engraved with a heraldic crested helmet and the letters M and P, most likely the initials of the ring's owner.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Engraved gold |
| Brief description | Gold ring engraved with a mythical animal over a crested helmet, between the letters 'M' and 'P'. Western Europe, 1500-1600. |
| Physical description | Gold ring, engraved with a mythical animal which when turned becomes a crested helmet between M and P. With spreading ribbed shoulders |
| Dimensions |
|
| Marks and inscriptions | becomes a crested helmet between M and P |
| Credit line | Presented by Art Fund |
| Object history | ex Pichon and Guilhou Collections |
| Summary | This ring would have been used as a signet, pressed into hot wax to seal a letter or packet. Personal seals (secreta) provided an essential legal safeguard and were used to witness documents such as wills, deeds of gift, loans and commercial documents, personal letters and land indentures. Signet rings could be engraved with a coat of arms or crest, an initial, a merchant's mark (a geometric symbol used to mark goods or personal belongings), or a personal symbol. Sixteenth and seventeenth century portraits show signet rings worn on the forefinger or thumb, presumably to make it easy to apply the ring to the wax by turning the hand. They were items of jewellery with a practical function but the use of precious metals and engraved hardstones indicates that they were also signs of status. The bezel of this ring is engraved with a heraldic crested helmet and the letters M and P, most likely the initials of the ring's owner. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.180-1937 |
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| Record created | December 13, 2005 |
| Record URL |
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