LOT 0331

Gem-Set Gold Masquerade Ring with Love Inscription

ITALY, CIRCA 1760 A.D.

7/8 in. (2.28 grams, 21.10 mm overall, 17.45 x 16.35 mm internal diameter (approximate size British N, USA 6 1/2, Europe 13.72, Japan 13)).

Finely modelled with a black-and-white enamelled mask, the features animated by rose-cut diamond eyes and a small ruby set into the open mouth; the head framed by a serrated gold collet and flanked by silver foliate clusters each set with a further rose-cut diamond; the shank formed as asymmetrical rococo scrolls with pierced and chased detailing throughout, the reverse of the bezel open, revealing white enamel engraved with faint traces of an original posy inscription.

Acquired on the European art market.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13321-257909.

See a closely related example published in Chadour, A.B., Rings: Alice and Louis Koch Collection, pl.852, p.261; see also Sampson, B.C., The Power of Love: Jewels, Romance and Eternity, fig. 20a-b, p.73, for a similar ring bearing the inscription Je cache mes amours.

Though now largely worn, the underside of the bezel would likely have borne a concealed love sentiment, comparable to the formula Je cache mes amours ('I mask my love'), found on related rings of mid-18th-century manufacture. The theme of the masked lover, drawn from contemporary masquerade culture and its associations with flirtation, secrecy, and clandestine courtship, here transforms the jewel into a witty and intimate token.