FINGER RING

Description: A medieval gold 'stirrup' finger ring with green gem stone setting dating from the mid 12th to 15th century AD. Description: The ring rises from the shoulders into a pointed bezel that is triangular in plan and the hoop has a keeled cross-section. flat on the inner surface. The bezel is set with a strongly coloured and semi-transparent green irregularly shaped gem stone probably an emerald but could be glass. Around half of the rim of the bezel is a cast raised decoration of two parallel lines between which are a line of dots. Flanking the setting, the tapering shoulders of the ring are decorated with a row of three triple lozenges on each. The shoulders of the ring are also decorated with a cast raised irregular design within an incised line following the slope of the shoulders. The ring is in good condition. The ring may have been a guard ring to accompany another ring with setting. The length is 23mm, width 20mm and the weight is 1.77g.

Discussion: a number of finger rings of a similar style have been recorded on the PAS database. For example, a late Medieval gold ring with a zoomorphic bezel found in Anlaby with Anlaby Common, East Riding of Yorkshire (Griffiths 2014); a gold stirrup-ring with the initial 'R' over the stone setting found in Rampisham, Dorset (Hayward Trevarthen 2014); and a further gold stirrup ring found in Marsh Baldon, Oxfordshire (Byard 2012). When comparing these examples to the object in discussion and its similarity to some styles of stirrup ring with its slightly raised bezel, this finger ring can be dated to the Medieval period circa AD 1200-1500. Similar rings can be found in Egan and Pritchard 1991, no.1608 and 1609. These are dated from the mid 12th to the 15th century. Similar to LIN-266872 and DOR-9533D0 on the database.
Conclusion: in conclusion, this object constitutes a prima facie case of treasure by consisting of more than 10% precious metal content in that it is gold, and is of an antiquity greater than 300 years.
References:
Griffiths, R (2014) YORYM-C69859: A Medieval Finger Ring from Anlaby with Anlaby Common, East Riding of Yorkshire
Web page available at: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/652576
[Accessed: 8 Sep 2017 10:27:39]
Hayward Trevarthen, C (2014) DOR-46EFBD: A Medieval Finger Ring from Rampisham, Dorset
Web page available at: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/651346
[Accessed: 8 Sep 2017 10:32:51]
Byard, A (2012) BERK-A08922: A Medieval Finger Ring from Marsh Baldon, Oxfordshire
Web page available at: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/530653
[Accessed: 8 Sep 2017 10:34:32]