Details

LOT 0420

'The Burton Agnes' Tudor 'BE x TRV x TIL x DEATHE x AND x SO // SHAL x I' Gold Double Register Posy Ring

CIRCA 1550-1600 A.D.

3/4 in. (5.23 grams, 20.70 mm overall, 18.11 mm internal diameter (approximate size British O 1/2, USA 7 1/4, Europe 15.61, Japan 15)).

Barrel-shaped hoop with scrolled panels to the outer face; inner face with legend in two tiered lines of seriffed capitals 'BE x TRV x TIL x DEATHE x AND x SO // SHAL x I' with final curlicue.

Provenance

Found whilst searching with a metal detector in a garden in Burton Agnes, East Riding of Yorkshire, UK, on 8th January 2023, by Christopher Watson.
Declared as treasure and disclaimed by the crown with Treasure reference no.2023 T41.

Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.YORYM-7CD0D7.
Accompanied by a copy of the report for H M Coroner no.2023 T41.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12442-225797.

Literature

See Evans, J., English Posies and Posy Rings, Oxford, 1931 for discussion.

Footnotes

The legend 'Be true til death and so shall I' is not recorded in that form in Evans's corpus (now nearly a century old), but variants such as 'Be true to me as I to thee' or Be true in heart till death depart' carry a similar sentiment.