MEDIEVAL FINGER RING

1400

Medieval gold finger ring with four oval bezels engraved with saints equally spaced around the narrowed D-sectioned hoop. Traces of white enamel in the engraving. External diameter 22.3mm, internal diameter 18.8mm, width of panels 6.0mm-6.4mm, thickness of panels 1.1mm, width of hoop between panels 1.9mm-2.3mm, thickness of hoop 1.0mm-1.2mm, weight 5.02g.Treasure Report (British Museum):A Medieval finger-ring with four oval bezels engraved with the images of saints. These comprise St Christopher with three female saints, one holding a sword (possibly St Catherine), one holding a cross (possibly St Margaret or St Helena) and one holding an unidentifiable object, possibly a palm or a flower.The ring is similar in form to a ring in the British Museum collection (Dalton 876) which has an additional bezel with an open back probably to accommodate a stone with magical properties. St Christopher occurs on this ring too. He was popularly invoked to prevent sudden death.The ring is gold and dates from the fifteenth century.Dimensions: diameter 21 mm. J P RobinsonCurator of Medieval Collections26th November 2009