British Celtic Bronze Ring with Concentric Design

Modelled in the half-round as a male bust with serpent headdress and torc; the hair depicted with a braided outer band framing the face and terminating at the jawline; the brow broad and heavy with raised eyebrows and sunken eye-sockets, narrow nose and small flat mouth; fleshy cheeks and chin; the slender neck with V-shaped collar or torc; the shoulders and chest with a slot to the lower edge to accept a gerrous insert; at the apex a S-curved crest extending to the rear and terminating in a narrow loop. 51.28 grams, 47 mm



Acquired on the UK art market in the 1980s. From the private collection of an Essex gentleman.

The format, workmanship and proportions of the piece recall a number of Gallic images of Iron Age date. The slanting eye sockets below a heavy brow appear, for example, on the idol from Neuvy Pailloux (Boucher, item 47), as does the collar with a centrepiece below the chin on the same item. The thick band of hair appears on a bronze figurine from Neuvy-en-Sullias (Boucher, item 55) and several others (e.g. items 56, 71), but its placement and curvature also suggest a ram's horns. The curved crest may represent a serpent, or more likely the neck of a swan or goose, as seen in a figure of Mars from Chaudon (Rolland, item 24; Boucher, item 69). The likely function of the piece is difficult to determine since it is too short to form an effective handle or hilt for a dagger, yet the width of the slot (about 1.mm) suggests that it was meant to accept a thin iron sheet. It is possible that the piece was intended to be a decorative mount for the rim of a bowl or cauldron.

Comprising a D-section hoop with horizontal lines at the shoulders, a discoid bezel with ring-and-dot design. 3.35 grams, 23.20 mm overall, 20.54 mm internal diameter (approximate size British U 1/2, USA 10 1/4, Europe 23.15, Japan 22)



Found Norfolk, UK. Acquired on the UK and EU art market before 2000. From the private collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.

Similar types of Celto-Roman bronze rings were found in the Thames in spoil heaps dating to the 1st century A.D. The most prolific finger rings in use throughout the Roman occupation were in bronze, and some forms were borrowed from Celtic arts and patterns.

Comprising five rings with decorative bezels and one small faux-twist ring. 31.8 grams total, 14-28 mm



Acquired on the UK and EU art market before 2000. From the private collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.

The collection includes possible signet rings that find their parallels with artefacts from Eastern Europe, especially in the area of Smederevo. A 15th A.D. date, for some of them, can be proposed on the basis of parallels from the Balkans.