FINGER RING

An unusual gold finger ring of Medieval date, probably AD 1200 - 1500, with a cabochon gem set in the bezel, surrounded by three clusters of gold spherical pellets. The bezel is a tall, biconical collet with the rounded pink gem or glass setting protruding from the top. From the sides of the bezel project three equally spaced clusters of gold pellets. There are three pellets in two of the groups, and only two surviving in the third. A single pellet is mounted on the side of the bezel half way between two of the clusters, and there is a scar from a missing pellet similarly placed on another side. In the third space, there is a circular hole into the bezel instead. Another similar hole can be seen next to and slightly above one cluster of spherical pellets, on the side where there is a scar for the single pellet. The two holes do not appear to have joined forming a tunnel through the setting, as they are different heights.

The hoop is oval in cross-section and has a diameter of 1.5mm at the back of the ring. The shoulders expand slightly, becoming more lozenge shaped in section, and increasing in height rather than width. The hoop is slightly bent. It has an internal diameter of 18.5mm.

The bezel is 7.2mm high, 8.2mm wide including the pellets, and 8.3mm long (across the hoop). Overall, the ring measures 26.8mm tall, 20.9mm wide and 8.3mm thick. The ring weighs 2.13g.

Close parallels have been difficult to find, with nothing obvious in the V&A nor British Museum collections online. DENO-04C484 (2004 T472) has a similarly shaped collet setting and is attributed to the late 12th or 13th century. Rings with cabochon settings can be seen in British Rings 800-1914 (Oman 1974 pp 15-28) who dates them to the period AD 1100-1300 and later. The high collet and ornamentation of the bezel (though not the cut gem) seems similar to BH-E6D3F8 (2013 T668) which dates from the late 14th or early 15th century. A cluster of pellets round the bezel can be found on NCL-B7F1A3 which proved impossible to date with certainty. On balance, a broad date of AD 1200 - 1500 is suggested for this example.