Code: 12113
This is a very rare medieval gold posy ring, inscribed outside the band in Lombardic script set with niello enamel (traces remain)
"+AMIE:EN:VVS:ES:MA:VIE:AVE:M" for "LOVE ALL I WILL ALL OF MY LIFE HAIL MARY" or simply put "I Swear to the Virgin Mary that I will love you all of my life!. The style of lettering in the Lombardic script gives us a date of 1180 - 1320 AD. Posy rings, the name deriving from poesy ('poetry'), are rings with inscriptions that express affection, friendship and love. Rhyming or cryptic inscriptions were fashionable from around 1200-1500, and were written in Latin but more commonly in French, the language of courtly love. Both these languages were spoken and understood fairly widely by the elite in medieval Europe. A comparable gold posy ring has been recorded from East Riding of York YORYM-0A0FD2
This is a perfect example of an early Posy ring, especially one written in French of love and commitment!
OBJECT: Posy Ring
CULTURE: Medieval
DATE: c. 1250 - 1300 AD
MATERIAL: Gold & Niello
RING SIZE: 7 (US) O (UK)
SIZE: 19.1mm x 2.2mm
WEIGHT: 1.43grams
PROVENANCE: Formerly in a private collection Gloucestershire, ex. B. Cavill collection.
