Details

LOT 0340

'The Hursley' Tudor Gold 'Hope Is Mi Holde Till Hap Shall Helpe' Buckle Posy Ring

CIRCA 16TH CENTURY A.D.

3/4 in. (2.76 grams, 19.17 mm overall, 16.63 mm internal diameter (approximate size British M, USA 6 1/4, Europe 12.34, Japan 12)).

A gold posy ring with rectangular-section hoop in the form of a buckled belt with looped end tie and chape with double-bowed and pinned buckle, the outer face inscribed '+HOPE * IS * MI HOLDE' in Roman capitals, continuing 'TILL * HAP * SHALL * HELPE' around the interior; accompanied by a vintage ring box.

Provenance

Found whilst searching with a metal detector near Hursley, Hampshire, UK, on Sunday 26th August 2012.
Acquired from Berganza, Hatton Garden, London, 2017.
Property of an East Sussex collector.
Disclaimed under the Treasure Act with reference no.2012 T805.

Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme report no.HAMP-62C152.
Accompanied by a copy of the Berganza invoice.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11667-197581.

Literature

Cf. The British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme, record id. GLO-244613 and Treasure Act, reference 2009 T135, for similar; cf. The V&A Museum, accession number M.225-1962, for a similar type dated 1400-1500 A.D.

Footnotes

The inscription is somewhat enigmatic and does not seem to have been previously recorded for a posy ring; the form of the buckle and the knopped chape are typical of examples seen, often in base metal, from the late medieval period to the 16th century A.D. The name of this genre of ring is derived from the 'poesy' or motto usually engraved around the hoop. In medieval examples the posy is mostly engraved around the outside of the hoop but later examples find it on the inner surface. Rings with amatory inscriptions have their origins in the 14th century A.D., when they served as love gifts, betrothal and wedding rings, as attested by surviving documentary evidence. Posy rings were also given to friends or used to mark significant occasions.