Ring thumbnail 1
Ring thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Jewellery, Rooms 91, The William and Judith Bollinger Gallery

Ring

1300-50 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This ring is known as a posy ring, deriving from the French 'poesie ' (poetry). Posy rings were plain hoops inscribed with mottoes or saying, that might express sentiments of faith, commemoration, friendship and love. It was an especially popular type of ring in the fifteenth century. The romantic inscriptions on posy rings suggest that they were also used for weddings.

The phrase engraved on the ring in French, ‘Io sui de druerie, ne me dune mie’, can be read as ‘I am a love gift, do not give me away’. A longer version of the motto was woven into a ribbon attached to the seal of King Richard I: ‘Jo sui de druerie/ Ne me denez mie/ Ki nostre amour deseivre/ La mort pui is ja receivre’ (I am a love token, do not give me away. If our love is separated, may the perpetrator incur death.) 'Druerie or dru are terms often found in medieval texts and romances and refer to friendship, love, affection or tenderness. Although the text on this ring is in French, it could have been made elsewhere as French and Latin were languages used by the educated across Europe.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Engraved gold
Brief description
Gold posy ring, the hoop inscribed in French + IOSVI: DE: DRVERIE: NE: ME: DVNE: MIE . ( 'I am a love gift, do not give me away'). Probably England or France, 1300-50.
Physical description
Gold posy ring, the hoop inscribed in lombardic characters + IOSVI: DE: DRVERIE: NE: ME: DVNE: MIE.
Dimensions
  • Depth: 0.3cm
  • Diameter: 1.9cm
Marks and inscriptions
+ IOSVI: DE: DRVERIE: NE: ME: DVNE: MIE (inscription, hoop; in lombardic characters)
Translation
'I am a love token, do not give me away'
Credit line
Given by Dame Joan Evans
Object history
From the Sir Arthur Evans Collection. This ring is inscribed 'Io sui de druerie ne me dune mie' in Lombardic lettering. This phrase, translated as 'I am a love gift do not give me away' is also found on a ring in the British Museum (Dalton, O.M., Catalogue of the Finger Rings, Early Christian, Byzantine, Teutonic, Medieval and Later in the British Museum, London, 1912, cat. 958) as well as woven into a ribbon atached to a grant of Richard I to the constable of Normandy. Sir Arthur Evans recorded a longer version of the motto as ' Jo sui druerie/ ne me dunez mie/ ki nostre amur deseivre/ la mort pui si ja receive.
Subject depicted
Summary
This ring is known as a posy ring, deriving from the French 'poesie ' (poetry). Posy rings were plain hoops inscribed with mottoes or saying, that might express sentiments of faith, commemoration, friendship and love. It was an especially popular type of ring in the fifteenth century. The romantic inscriptions on posy rings suggest that they were also used for weddings.

The phrase engraved on the ring in French, ‘Io sui de druerie, ne me dune mie’, can be read as ‘I am a love gift, do not give me away’. A longer version of the motto was woven into a ribbon attached to the seal of King Richard I: ‘Jo sui de druerie/ Ne me denez mie/ Ki nostre amour deseivre/ La mort pui is ja receivre’ (I am a love token, do not give me away. If our love is separated, may the perpetrator incur death.) 'Druerie or dru are terms often found in medieval texts and romances and refer to friendship, love, affection or tenderness. Although the text on this ring is in French, it could have been made elsewhere as French and Latin were languages used by the educated across Europe.
Bibliographic references
  • Bury, Shirley, Jewellery Gallery Summary Catalogue (Victoria and Albert Museum, 1982), 32/ L/ 2
  • Taylor, Gerald and Scarisbrick,Diana Finger rings from ancient Egypt to the present day , Oxford: Ashmolean Museum press, 1978, p. 46, cat. 259
  • Evans, Joan, English posies and posy rings, 1931, p. 2
Collection
Accession number
M.60-1960

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Record createdMarch 7, 2006
Record URL
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