LOT 0207

Heavy Byzantine Gold Marriage Ring with Christ and Facing Couple

CIRCA 7TH CENTURY A.D.

1 1/8 in. (22.45 grams, 27.95 mm overall, 18.82 mm internal diameter (approximate size British R, USA 8 1/2, Europe 18 3/4, Japan 18)).

Substantial hoop and applied quatrefoil bezel, incuse design comprising nimbate facing bust of Christ above a cross potent between male and female profile busts and flanked by kneeling winged and nimbate angels, legend 'VΓIA' (hygia 'good health') beneath.

Private collection of Kal Noselson, New York, acquired between 1976 and the late 1990s; thence by descent.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13415-259785.

Cf. Chadour, A.B., Rings. The Alice and Louis Koch Collection, volume I, Leeds, 1994, item 490, for type; Baldini Lippolis, I., L'Oreficeria nell'Impero di Costantinopoli tra IV e VII secolo (the Jewellery in the Empire of Constantinople between IV and VII centuries, in Italian), Bari, 1999, p.214, for the type, especially nos.18-19.

The ring belongs to the category of Eastern Roman rings featuring a polygonal band and an applied bezel, a type particularly common in the 7th century A.D., especially for marriage rings. It shows the conventional depiction of the bride and groom blessed by God.