Post Medieval Pewter Collection

With coil-spring catch, inscribed to one face '·I·D·' and to the other '·In·Memmory·of·N.D. 1686' with pointillé detailing. 32.6 grams, 57 mm



From an Essex, UK, collection. Property of an Essex gentleman.

Inscribed to the hoop interior together with maker's stamp 'RD' within shaped cartouche. 6.16 grams, 22.60 mm overall, 19.48 mm internal diameter (approximate size British T, USA 9 1/2, Europe 21.26, Japan 20)



From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.

In the medieval period many rings bore posy inscriptions in Latin or French, the languages frequently spoken by the affluent elites. Later, inscriptions in English became more usual, although the lack of standardisation in spelling might surprise the modern reader. The inscription is generally found on the interior of the ring, hidden to everyone except the wearer and most of the sentimental mottoes were taken from the popular literature of the time. In fact, love inscriptions often repeat each other, which suggests that goldsmiths used stock phrases. In the later 16th century, ‘posy’ specifically meant a short inscription. A posy is described in contemporary literature as a short ‘epigram’ of less than one verse. George Puttenham (1589) explained that these phrases were not only inscribed on finger rings, but also applied to arms and trenchers. The practice of giving rings engraved with mottoes at betrothals or weddings was common in England from the 16th century onwards, and continued until the late 18th century. Sources suggest that rings could be acquired ready- engraved, or alternatively engraved sometime after their initial production, by a hand other than the goldsmith’s. Joan Evans assumed that posy rings were principally used by/between lovers and distinguished four contexts for the giving of posy rings by one lover to another: betrothals, weddings, St Valentine’s Day and occasions of mourning. Samuel Pepys’ diary makes clear that posy rings might also mark the marriage of a family member, when bearers could even commission their own rings and chose their own mottoes from books. The rings could also function as tokens of friendship or loyalty.

Each with bell-shaped socket and strap handle; one with white applied decoration including the sun with mask and two flowers with a date of 1605; the other a fragment with reconstituted elements, orange in colour with yellow slashes, star, rosette and partial date '[..]54' for 1654; one restored. 443 grams total, 15-17 cm

Fine condition, one restored.

Acquired in the 1990s. Ex property of a Suffolk collector.

1605 was the year of the 'Gunpowder Plot', a plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament which was foiled when, following an anonymous tip-off, Sir Thomas Knyvet, a justice of the peace, found Catholic plotter Guy Fawkes in a cellar below the Parliament building and ordered a search of the area, finding thirty six barrels of gunpowder. Fawkes was arrested for trying to kill King James I and the members who were scheduled to sit together in Parliament the next day. Fawkes spoke the legendary words: 'Remember, remember, the Fifth of November'. In 1654 Oliver Cromwell created a union between England and Scotland, with Scottish representation in the Parliament of England.