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Details
LOT 1937
Medieval Bronze Ring with Warrior
16TH CENTURY A.D.
1 in. (7.78 grams, 24.23 mm overall, 19.54 mm internal diameter (approximate size British R 1/2, USA 9 3/4, Europe 19.38, Japan 18)).
The hoop with keeled shoulders with lines of pointillé decoration, a hexagonal bezel with an incuse stylised figure. [No Reserve]
Provenance
Acquired on the UK and EU art market before 2000.
From the private collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.
Literature
Cf. for the type Bailey, G., Detector finds 6, Witham, 2005, p.30, fig.C8.17 (hexagonal signet ring).
Footnotes
The finger rings worn by merchants and tradesmen were made of different metals. The commonest were in brass or bronze. The merchants and tradesmen ordered various devices to be engraved on the bezels of their rings, and sometimes they gave the appearance of heraldic blazons.
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'The Dummer' Medieval Knight's Hospitaller Gold Ring
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Found Dummer, Basingstoke and Deane, Hampshire, UK; declared as Treasure under the Treasure Act and disclaimed. Accompanied by a copy of a letter explaining that the Crown’s interest in this find has been disclaimed. Accompanied by a copy of the Report on find of Potential Treasure for H M Coroner no.2023 T292. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.HAMP-463CD7.
This motif is symbolic of membership in an Order of Knights Hospitaller, such as the Order of St John. In England, these Knights ceased to hold property after 1540 and the English Reformation. This suggests that the ring is from the earlier part of the sixteenth century. However, the letter 'G' is a prominent symbol of Freemasonry, where it typically stands for Geometry and/or God, the 'Grand Architect of the Universe'.
