A substantial gold finger ring with D-section hoop, high-relief scrolled foliage on a pounced field to the bezel and shoulders; cell with contemporary inset carnelian intaglio profile male bust possibly of Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, with radiate crown of an emperor in the classical style, of Italian workmanship.

PROVENANCE:
Found by Tomasz Krawczuk while searching with a metal detector near the River Colne, between Halstead and Hedingham Castle, Essex, UK, on 3 December 2018; declared as treasure under the Treasure Act, Treasure Case number 2018 T1046, and disclaimed on 12 March 2020; accompanied by copies of a letter from the British Museum, the treasure report, and the Portable Antiquities Scheme report number ESS-A69E73; an independent specialist report and valuation by graduate gemmologist and jewellery expert Anna Rogers, GIA GG, BA, Gem-A, ref. no. 8697/07/12/20; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no. 10431-168697.

LITERATURE:
Cf. Scarisbrick, D., Rings: Jewelry of Power, Love and Loyalty, London, 2007, item 41, for this ring type with similar inset carnelian profile bust intaglio; see Goldstein, G., Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford (1550-1604), in Elizabethan Review for a summary of de Vere's life and works; see Webbe, W., A Discourse of English Poetrie, 1586, Puttenham, E., The Art of English Poetrie, 1589; and Peacham, H., The Compete Gentleman, 1622, for details of his literary works and connections.

FOOTNOTES:
The ring's find spot is in the area between the villages of Castle Hedingham and Halstead, a tract of land held from the time of the Norman invasion of the late 11th century by the de Vere family. This wealthy dynasty included several earls of Oxford and other notables. The castle was one of the de Veres' principal seats throughout the medieval period, but was sold off in 1625.

One owner of the castle estate was Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (12 April 1550-24 June 1604), who was a favourite at the court of Queen Elizabeth but was considered unsuited for any responsible office due to his volatile temper. He was a champion jouster, and travelled throughout France and Italy in pursuit of fame. He had literary ambitions and was noted for his love poetry and his work as a playwright, though none of his plays are known to survive. He was admired for his patronage of literary, religious, musical, and medical works. His family was associated with artistic endeavours of many kinds and supported troupes of actors known as Oxford's Men and Oxford's Boys; the former troupe mostly toured the provinces while the latter played at the Blackfriars Theatre, the lease of which was passed to John Lyly, secretary to the 17th Earl. William Webbe and George Puttenham each consider de Vere to be 'first' among Elizabeth I's courtier poets and there are a number his poems surviving in published form.

An interesting aside concerns the association of Edward's name with the works of William Shakespeare by J. Thomas Looney, Shakespeare Identified in Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford,
This rare ring is of Italian manufacture, of a type made in Italy in the late 16th century. It could easily have been bought when Edward, at the age of 25, was touring Italy during 1575-1576. The famous historian and antiquarian John Stow recorded that Edward was '...captivated by Italian fashions in clothing, jewellery and cosmetics... having introduced various luxury items to the English court which immediately became fashionable'.

The ring's intaglio features a distinctive profile, echoing a classical type but not obviously replicating a single prototype. The bust resembles a type showing a Roman emperor in profile, wearing a radiate bust and with the neck of his tunic displayed, in the style of the 3rd century AD. The neck of the bust is depicted very long, a feature which appears on only a few imperial busts. In combination with the radiate crown, the likeliest candidates for the original on which the style of this copy is based would include Victorinus, a Romano-Gallic Emperor 268-270 or, possibly, Macrinus, joint Emperor 217-218, as seen on coins of these emperors. The treatment of the bust is intended to display the owner of the ring in a familiar but classical guise, associated with images of imperial power and long-standing authority.