FINGER RING

TREASURE CASE : 2019 T1125.

Description: A complete, late Medieval gold finger ring dating to c. AD 1400-1500. It is an annular band, with a D-shaped section, engraved on the exterior with a French inscription in Gothic black-letter style. The interior is plain. A quatrefoil motif, flanked by a pair of palm leaves, inverted on the right side, marks the start of the text. It reads: DE TOUT MON CUER ("With all my heart") There are palm leaves between the first three words; the first two point down and to the left, the third down and to the right. Before the final word, a palm leave points upwards to the left. Each palm leaf is formed from a single incised stem and between six and eight ovate leaves.

Dimensions: Diameter: 20.02mm, thickness: 1.4mm, weight: 2.8g.

Discussion: The French language was commonly adopted for expressions of love on finger rings of English manufacture. Gothic black letter finger rings with French inscriptions are associated with the culture of chivalry and courtly love prompting gifts or tokens as expressions of love. These rings are typically engraved with short inscriptions and floral designs around the exterior and filled with niello or enamel. Such finger rings are routinely grouped together with inscribed rings known commonly as "posy" rings, from the word poésie or poetry. However, strictly speaking the "posy" ring is a later sixteenth-century phenomenon, replacing the earlier custom of these black letter style rings. Other examples of gold posy rings with this inscription and variations recorded by the PAS include: DENO-FB27A1 ("de tout mon cuer") DOR-27E4D3 ("tout mon cuer"), and SF-9123D1 ("en bon couer").

Conclusion:
In terms of age and as the object contains a minimum of 10% precious metal it qualifies as Treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure Act 1996