FINGER RING

A cast copper alloy Roman finger ring. The bezel is a horizontal oval, with an oval cell in the centre. The bezel protrudes from the hoop so is not flush with it. Within the bezel there is a nicolo-glass intaglio....i.e. moulded in a glass with upper blue layer on a dark ground (Henig pers comm). The image on the intaglio may be a fisherman, it is a figure bending down but the details are not clear. None of the hoop remains, and the breaks are possibly quite recent. This cell is divided into two by a horizontal 'S' shape which has bulbous terminals. In the two cells there is incomplete enamelling which is now a light green/brown colour. The undecorated shoulders taper towards the loop, of which only a small portion remains. The breaks of the loop are recent. The loop is a pointed oval in section. The surface of the ring is has an incomplete mid brown/green patina. It measures 10.97mm long from the upper edge to the lower edge of the bezel, and it is 18.13mm wide from each apex of the shoulders/loops. It weighs 3.6g.

The finger ring is Roman. A similar example is illustrated in the Colchester report (Crummy, N 1983 Colchester Archaeological Report 2: The Roman Small Finds from Excavations in Colchester 1971-9, Colchester Archaeological Trust), No. 1786, which has an oval bezel. Henig (pers comm) suggests the ring dates to the 3rd century.