Details

LOT 0362

Elizabethan Gold Heraldic 'Swan Family' Signet Ring

16TH CENTURY A.D.

7/8 in. (17.61 grams, 23.28 mm overall, 17.93 mm internal diameter (approximate size British P 1/2, USA 7 3/4, Europe 16.86, Japan 16)).

Very heavy high-carat merchants ring with oval bezel bearing heraldic helmet and shield design with a chevron below two mullets and an eagle's head at the base; the helmet with luxurious looped mantle and crest of a human bust; to the underside, an incuse panel with reserved swan on a textured field probably a device alluding to the family name.

Provenance

From a 1990s private collection.
Property of a European gentleman.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11909-207247.

Literature

Cf. Oman, C.C., British Rings 800-1914, London, 1974, pl.47 (C,D).

Footnotes

The arms appear to be a variant of those used by Adam de Cretinge in the Dering Roll of the late 13th century.