Ring
c. 1300 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Posy rings, the name deriving from poesy ('poetry'), are rings with inscriptions that express affection, friendship and love. Rhyming or cryptic inscriptions were fashionable from around 1200-1500, and were written in Latin but more commonly in French, the language of courtly love. Both these languages were spoken and understood fairly widely by the elite in medieval Europe. The repetition of particular inscriptions suggest that goldsmiths had reference books of stock phrases; the more unusual inscriptions perhaps indicate a client's individual request. The circular hoop could be engraved both inside and out; until around 1350 the style of lettering took the form of the rounded capitals, known as Lombardic script, and from that date until after 1500 lettering was in the spiky script known as Gothic.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Materials and techniques | Gold, engraved |
Brief description | Gold posy ring, the hoop inscribed in Lombardic capitals + WEL: WERE: HIM: YAT: WISTE: * TO: WHOM: HE: MIGTE: TRISTE., England, ca.1300 |
Physical description | Posy ring, gold, the bifaceted circular hoop inscribed in Lombardic capitals + WEL: WERE: HIM: YAT: WISTE: * TO: WHOM: HE: MIGTE: TRISTE. |
Dimensions |
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Marks and inscriptions | inscribed + WEL: WERE: HIM: YAT: WISTE: * TO: WHOM: HE: MIGTE: TRISTE. (Around the bifaceted hoop, in Lombardic capitals, in English.)
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Credit line | Given by Dame Joan Evans |
Object history | Found at Park Street, near St. Albans. |
Association | |
Summary | Posy rings, the name deriving from poesy ('poetry'), are rings with inscriptions that express affection, friendship and love. Rhyming or cryptic inscriptions were fashionable from around 1200-1500, and were written in Latin but more commonly in French, the language of courtly love. Both these languages were spoken and understood fairly widely by the elite in medieval Europe. The repetition of particular inscriptions suggest that goldsmiths had reference books of stock phrases; the more unusual inscriptions perhaps indicate a client's individual request. The circular hoop could be engraved both inside and out; until around 1350 the style of lettering took the form of the rounded capitals, known as Lombardic script, and from that date until after 1500 lettering was in the spiky script known as Gothic. |
Bibliographic references |
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Collection | |
Accession number | M.184-1975 |
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Record created | March 7, 2006 |
Record URL |
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