Details

LOT 2004

'The Hursley' Tudor Gold 'Hope is my support till fortune shall help' 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)).

The hoop rectangular-section and 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

Dr Malcom Jones writes: 'The 'hope' in question here is the lover's hope to be united with the beloved. Hope indeed springs eternal in the lover's heart - as Chaucer says in his contemporary partial translation of that classic of courtly love, the Roman de la Rose -- Nere hope, ther shulde no lover lyve [Without hope no lover could live], and Y leve yn hope is the message on a 15th century signet-ring found in Gloucester, while en bon espoer is the message of another ring and also on a ring-brooch in the British Museum. An elaborate gold ring recently unearthed bears the legend cest mon desir [This is my desire], with each word separated by an open book, and each book's double-page engraved with two letters, es po yr – i.e. espoir [LANCUM469077]. A beautiful openwork brooch in the shape of a trefoil found in Brighton in the nineteenth century, but since lost, bore the legend, en espoir ma vye endure [in hope my life endures], a sentiment echoed on another ring-brooch in the British Museum -- vie i[n] espoir -- while a ring in the Somerset County Museum insists that esperance me conforte [hope comforts me] -- exactly as the first half of our inscription here: HOPE IS MI HOLDE.

A close parallel to the legend on the present ring is found in a series of sententious verses preserved in the 14C BL Harl. 2316 [Whiting H465]:
Hope is hard ther hap is foo -- 'Hope is hard where fortune is a foe
Hap wile helpen ther hope is froo -- Fortune will help where hope is away'

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.