Details

LOT 0378

'The Great Holland' Medieval Gold Black Letter 'I Desire to Serve You' Posy Ring

HOUSE OF LANCASTER, 1400-1450 A.D.

3/4 in. (2.15 grams, 19.55 mm overall, 16.73 mm internal diameter (approximate size British M, USA 6, Europe 12.46, Japan 12)).

With rectangular cross-section, the exterior engraved with a black letter inscription reading '+ Je decir vovs cervir' translating to 'I desire to serve you' with an elaborate sprig of leaves on each side of the word 'vous'.

Provenance

Found near Great Holland, Frinton and Walton, Essex, on Thursday 2nd March 2023 by Paul Sheedy.
Declared as treasure under the Treasure Act with reference no.2023 T585, and disclaimed and disclaimed by the Crown.

Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.ESS-AFFADD.
Accompanied by a copy of an email from PAS explaining that the Crown's interest in the ring has been disclaimed with reference no.2023 T585.
Accompanied by a copy of two photographs of the ring taken at the time of finding.
Accompanied by a copy of an article about the finding of this ring in the Daily Gazette and Essex County Standard.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12738-234089.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Literature

Cf. Portable Antiquities Scheme, refs. OXON-D90644, DUR-B533B9, YORYM-D33826, YORYM-680214, for type; similar variations on the spelling of 'servir', see WMID-F4CF43 and SWYOR-34A5B0; cf. Jones, M., 'The Beautiful Game: Courtly Love Posies in Anglo-Norman Inscribed on Jewellery and Seals' in Journal of the British Archaeological Association 176 (2023), 1-30, here 17-18, DOI:10.1080/00681288.2024.2351731].

Footnotes

Passage from Dr Jones's essay referencing this ring (The Beautiful Game: Courtly Love Posies in Anglo-Norman Inscribed on Jewellery and Seals, 2023, pp.17-18) explains further regarding the inscriptions on courtly rings: 'The courtly lover wishes only amer et seruir (to love and serve), as attested on a ring found in East Sussex. The same legend appeared, according to an inventory of his jewels made c. 1420, on a pendant owned by Louis d’Anjou (d. 1384), but as it is described as being in the form of a cross, it is perhaps religious love and service that is at issue here. There can be no doubt, however, about a ring found recently in Essex, which reads je decir vovs ceruir (I desire to serve you). A hefty 15th-century ring in the V&A is inscribed iaym servir (I love to serve) on the exterior and voeil obeir (I wish to obey)inside the hoop, while a ring found in Yorkshire reads simply ie vueil servir (I wish to serve). The assumption is that these were rings worn by male lovers who wished to serve their ladies — vueil plein[men]t a vous servir, the slightly fuller version on a ring recorded by Evans, is not quite as fulsome as the legend on a ring found recently in the West Midlands: tant que murai vous seruire [published as seroire] (Till I die I will serve you), or as florid as Deus me octroye de vous seruir / a gree com moun couer desire (God grant me to serve you / acceptably as my heart desires).'