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LOT 0341
Medieval Gold Signet Ring with Hexagonal Bezel Engraved with an Arabic Inscription
14TH-15TH CENTURY A.D.
1 in. (11.91 grams, 24.13 mm overall, 17.47 mm internal diameter (approximate size British M, USA 6, Europe 12.46, Japan 12)).
Comprising a D-section hoop with traces of engraved guilloche to the outer edge, knop to the underside, scooped shoulders; octagonal bezel with facetted cup beneath, each face with engraved scroll motif, bevelled rim, engraved Arabic legend. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom an old French collection believed to have been formed in the 1960s.
Acquired privately as part of a collection in the early 1990s.
Accompanied by a copy of a previous illustrated catalogue information page.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12141-214818.
Cf. Content, D.J. (ed.), Islamic Rings & Gems. The Zucker Collection, London, 1967, item 72, for type.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0341
Medieval Gold Signet Ring with Hexagonal Bezel Engraved with an Arabic Inscription
Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,235
-
Medieval and Later Coin Weight Group
15th-19th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £46
Including discoid and square types with punched numerical values to one face. 28 grams total, 14-16 mm
Found Cambridgeshire, UK. -
Medieval Bronze Artefact Collection
1100-1500 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Including heater-shaped belt-plates, scallop-shaped scabbard chape and other items. 43.8 grams total, 24-42 mm
Found North Yorkshire, UK. -
'The Witham on the Hill' Medieval Gold 'The Beautiful Game' Posy Ring with Matched Pairs of Flowers
Circa 1400-1500 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,160
Flat-section straightened hoop with incised blackletter text 'le belle ie[u]' translating to 'the beautiful game' with interposed flowers and stalks. 1.68 grams, 16.92 mm overall, 15.39 mm internal diameter (approximate size British I 1/2, USA 4 1/2, Europe 8.07, Japan 7)
Found whilst searching with a metal detector near Witham on the Hill, South Kesteven, Lincolnshire, UK, on Sunday 9th January 2022, by Mark Bowen. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.CAM-D675E8. Accompanied by a copy of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Treasure receipt and and disclaimed with Treasure case tracking no.2022T153. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12139-214843.
The final word of the inscription is ie for ie[u], an Anglo-Norman spelling of modern French jeu ‘game’. The game in question is, of course, love (not football!). The ‘game’ of love here is what we now refer to as Courtly Love (amour courtois, fin amor) and the phrase ‘beautiful game’ is also found on another ring recorded on the PAS database as YORYM-0A0FD2, the whole, a rhyming couplet, reading AMIE EN VV/ [E]ST MA VIE BELE GIEV [Beloved, in you my life is a beautiful game].
