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Details
LOT 1746
Merovingian Bronze Ring with Early Christian Fish Symbol
6TH CENTURY A.D.
1 in. (5.72 grams, 25.40 mm overall, 19.14 mm internal diameter (approximate size British S, USA 9, Europe 20, Japan 19)).
Comprising a D-section hoop expanding at the shoulders, an oval bezel with a stylised fish flanked by linear motifs. [No Reserve]
Provenance
Acquired on the UK and EU art market before 2000.
From the private collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.
Literature
See Bequest, F., Catalogue of the finger rings Early Christian, Byzantine, Teutonic, Mediaeval and later, London, 1912, no.146, for the typology.
Footnotes
The German tribes who settled inside the Roman Empire were great wearers of rings; archaeological discoveries show that these ornaments were worn by adults and children of both sexes. The number of graves excavated in Gaul and Germany is large, and the material for comparative study is extensive. A considerable proportion of rings are signets, with portraits, names or monograms, and emblems such as the cross, the fish, the dove, i.e. early Christian symbols; most of these have the designs cut in a metal bezel.
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LOT 1746
Merovingian Bronze Ring with Early Christian Fish Symbol
Sold for (Inc. bp): £195
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Acquired on the UK and EU art market before 2000. From the private collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.
The German tribes who settled inside the Roman Empire were great wearers of rings; archaeological discoveries show that these ornaments were worn by adults and children of both sexes. The number of graves excavated in Gaul and Germany is large, and the material for comparative study is extensive. A considerable proportion of rings are signets, with portraits, names or monograms, and emblems such as the cross, the fish, the dove, i.e. early Christian symbols; most of these have the designs cut in a metal bezel.
