Rings have been given as signs of love and marriage since Greek and Roman times. This silver ring has been engraved and decorated with niello, a shiny black paste which is pressed into the engraved pattern and polished smooth. Although a legal marriage in the medieval and Renaissance world could be formed simply by a couple exchanging vows and sealing the agreement with a handclasp, the exchange of a ring solemnised the occasion and could act as a visual proof if the marriage was later disputed. The bezel of the ring is formed as a pair of clasped hands, a motif known as 'mani in fede' or hands clasped in faith - representing the handclasp of the marriage service. This is often seen on rings but also on maiolica jars, dishes and inkstands given as wedding presents.

This ring forms part of a collection of 760 rings and engraved gems from the collection of Edmund Waterton (1830-87). Waterton was one of the foremost ring collectors of the nineteenth century and was the author of several articles on rings, a book on English devotion to the Virgin Mary and an unfinished catalogue of his collection (the manuscript is now the National Art Library). Waterton was noted for his extravagance and financial troubles caused him to place his collection in pawn with the London jeweller Robert Phillips. When he was unable to repay the loan, Phillips offered to sell the collection to the Museum and it was acquired in 1871. A small group of rings which Waterton had held back were acquired in 1899.

Edmund Waterton used the fortune which was made by his family’s involvement in the British Guiana sugar plantations to put his collection together. His grandfather owned a plantation known as Walton Hall and his father, Charles Waterton, went to Guiana as a young man to help run La Jalousie and Fellowship, plantations which belonged to his uncles. When slavery was abolished in the British territories, Charles Waterton claimed £16283 6s 7d in government compensation and was recorded as having 300 slaves on the Walton Hall estate.