Details

LOT 0301

'The Bettiscombe' Medieval Gold 'Loyalty is Everything' Posy Ring

14TH-15TH CENTURY A.D.

3/4 in. (2.57 grams, 19.60 mm overall,17.39 mm internal diameter (approximate size British M 1/2, USA 6 1/4, Europe 12.46, Japan 12)).

An annular gold band with everted upper and lower lip, filigree ropework above and below each rim, with circumferential inscription to the recessed exterior face; of the five separate bands, the central one accommodating an applied strip of paler gold bearing a Medieval French blackletter inscription in relief, reading: '+loiautet (5 five cinquefoils) pas tout (5 five cinquefoils)', or 'Loyalty Passes All'; the inscription band may once have been enamelled; plain interior; the outer rim and twisted band on one edge are slightly bent; cleaned and repaired.

Provenance

Found whilst searching with a metal detector in Bettiscombe, Dorset, UK, on 26th September 2019, and reported as a find of potential treasure to Ciorstaidh Hayward Trevarthen, Finds Liaison Officer.

Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report number DOR-551573.
Accompanied by a copy of a letter from the British Museum to H M Senior Coroner for Dorset disclaiming the Crown's interest in the treasure find with reference number 2019 T1075.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11656-197165.

Literature

Cf. The PAS database, record id. 2018 T881 (DOR-C010D8), for a ring of similar construction.

Footnotes

The PAS report states that Joan Evans notes a similar inscription- 'LOIALTE PASE TO' - found on plate and ornaments in the inventories of Louis d'Anjou and Louis de Valois, duc de Touraine...' in her book English Posies and Posy Rings.