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Antique English Gold Band 'Posy' Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
Posy Ring “A knote knit in love”
England, late 17th century
Gold
Weight 5 gr; Circumference 57.65 mm; US size 8 1/4; UK size Q 1/2
A wide gold band with D-section and inside the eng...
Category
Antique Late 17th Century English Band Rings
Materials
Gold, Yellow Gold
Antique Roman Gold Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
Late Roman Ring
Roman Empire, 4th century
Gold
Bezel 11 x 18 x 2 mm.; circumference 49 mm.; weight 5.5 gr.; US size 5; UK size J 1/2
Inspired by funct...
Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier European Classical Roman Signet Rings
Materials
Gold, Yellow Gold
Antique Neo-Gothic Gold Band Ring with inscription
Located in Chicago, IL
Neo-Gothic Ring with Inscription
Probably France, 19th century
Gold
Weight 3.9 gr; Circumference 61.29 mm; US size 9 3/4; UK size T
Charming Revival ring with Gothic lettering remin...
Category
Antique 19th Century French Gothic Revival Band Rings
Materials
Gold, Yellow Gold
Antique Renaissance Gold Fede Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
Fede ring
Western Europe, 16th - 17th century
Gold
Weight 3.8 gr; Circumference 61.64 mm; US size 9 3/4; UK Size T ¼
A delightful, sculpturesque Fede ring conveying love and loyalty
Plain gold hoop...
Category
Antique 16th Century European Renaissance Engagement Rings
Materials
Gold, Yellow Gold
Inscribed Patriotic Ring from the First World War
Located in Chicago, IL
First World War (or Patriotic) Iron Ring with a Cross and Inscription “Gold gab ich für Eisen”
Austro-Hungarian Empire or Germany, circa 1914
Gold and ...
Category
Vintage 1910s German Band Rings
Materials
Gold, Mixed Metal
Inscribed Patriotic Ring from the First World War
Located in Chicago, IL
First World War (or Patriotic) Iron Ring “Gold gab ich für Eisen”
Austro-Hungarian Empire, circa 1919
Gold and Iron
Outer diameter 20 mm., width of ban...
Category
Vintage 1910s German Band Rings
Materials
Mixed Metal, Gold
Inscribed Patriotic Ring from the First World War
Located in Chicago, IL
First World War (or Patriotic) Iron Ring with Inscription “Gold gab ich für Eisen”
Austro-Hungarian Empire, circa 1919
Gold and Iron
Outer diameter 21 ...
Category
Vintage 1910s German Band Rings
Materials
Gold, Mixed Metal
Gold Renaissance Ring with Roman Agate Intaglio Depicting a Horse
Located in Chicago, IL
Renaissance ring with Roman horse intaglio
Ring: Western Europe, c. 1580-90, Roman intaglio: 1st century AD
Gold, champlevé enamel, nicolo agate
Weight 5.2 gr.; Circumference 57.15 mm.; US size 8; UK size Q
In the Renaissance period, ancient cameos and intaglios were highly sought-after collectors’ items. Wealthy owners had them incorporated into signet rings, and in this case, an exceptional and rare ring with sophisticated enameling.
The Roman intaglio reflects the spirit of Humanism during the Renaissance, when there was a revived interest in Classical literature and the arts. The horse motif was most likely the personal choice of the wearer or giver of this ring who would have been familiar with its meaning in Classical Antiquity as a symbol of wealth and power. In Ancient Greece images of horses denoted aristocratic status, were symbolic of heroism and the all-important cavalry. A grazing horse as seen here may have represented a favored racehorse.
Description:
Gold ring with D-section hoop widening towards the oval bezel, plain on the interior and on the exterior the shoulder is decorated in gold against black enamel with symmetrical foliate and floral motifs. The frieze-like decoration continues along the sides of the facetted bezel with dots, dashes and scrollwork, a triangular form with acanthus foliage and fine gold framing line along the base of the bezel with raised mount and fluted collet for a nicolo-agate intaglio. Carved into the bluish grey on brown surface is a grazing horse seen in profile, head bent low. On the underside of the bezel is an elaborate cross motif with scrolls in black enamel against gold. Minor loss of enamel in some areas, through age and wear. The ring is in good wearable condition.
Literature:
Similar elaborately enameled signet rings set with ancient intaglios or Imperial laureate heads can be found in the British Museum, London (Dalton 1912, no. 308); Tarnóczy Collection; Hanns-Ulrich Haedeke Collection.
The highly embellished enameling along the hoop and bezel of this exceptional and rare ring is reminiscent of the ornamental prints...
Category
Antique 16th Century European Renaissance Signet Rings
Materials
Agate, Gold, Enamel
Gold Antique Ring from the Middle Ages Depicting Saint Christopher and Christ
Located in Chicago, IL
Late Medieval Iconographic Ring with St Christopher and Christ Child
Gold
England, 15th century
Weight 4.0 gr; Circumference 54.82 mm; US size 7 1/4; UK size O 1/2
Description
Gold ring with D-section hoop on the exterior with twisted and beaded decoration along the lower half, plain on the interior. The hoop is slightly tapered towards the curved shoulders engraved with a five petalled rose and stem. From this rises a triangular support for the flat rectangular bezel with outlined border surrounded by rays and engraved scene of St. Christopher carrying the Christ Child over his shoulder across a river. The ring shows signs of age and is in good wearable condition.
Literature:
In the Middle Ages...
Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier English Medieval Signet Rings
Materials
Gold
Renaissance Cameo Ring of Galba in a Modern Gold Setting
Located in Chicago, IL
Renaissance Cameo Of Galba (?) in Modern Gold Setting
Europe, 17th (?) century
Onyx and gold
Weight: 10.2 g.; circumference: 51.8 mm.; size: US 6, UK...
Category
Antique 17th Century European Renaissance Cocktail Rings
Materials
Onyx, Gold
Antique Double Sided Rosary Bead with Head of Christ and Skull Carved in Bone
Located in Chicago, IL
ROSARY BEAD WITH WENDEKOPF
Germany, 16th century
Bone
Weight 12 grams; dimensions 29 × 23 × 24 cm
A double-sided bead made of bone with a finely carved head of Christ on one side an...
Category
Antique 16th Century German Figurines and Sculptures
Renaissance Reliquary Pendant with Pearl and Enameling
Located in Chicago, IL
RELIQUARY PENDANT WITH PEARL
Spain or Spanish Netherlands, c. 1620
Gold, rock crystal, enamel, pearl, bone relics
Weight 12.9 grams; dimensions 40 ...
Category
Antique 1620s Spanish Renaissance Pendant Necklaces
Materials
Pearl, Gold, Enamel
Late Renaissance Octagonal Gilded Brass Reliquary Pendant with Velvet Interior
Located in Chicago, IL
OCTAGONAL RELIQUARY PENDANT
Probably Italy, c. 1600
Fire-gilded brass, glass, velvet, ink on paper
Weight 63.2 grams; dimensions 82 × 47 × 21 mm (with loop)
Physical description: Double-sided pendant in octagonal form made of fire-gilded brass. Both sides of the pendant with deep profiled frames with glass. The slightly indented side panels comprise openwork friezes with symmetrical scrollwork. On the front is dark red velvet, onto which tiny bone relics of saints (now missing) would have been attached. Labels on a lace-like paper silhouette remain, with names written in ink, mostly faded; only “S. Agnes” is legible. The back is hinged and when opened reveals a velvet-lined interior and paper insert with floral decorations on a turquoise ground, on which fragments of bones are attached. Baluster shaped base for shield-like pendant loop and ring.
This reliquary pendant is difficult to situate historically because it is a composite object. It represents traditional handwork in the form of a paper cutout, combined with a jeweler’s beautiful fire-gilt brass case.
The work of paper cutting, painting, and ornamentation, sometime combined with needlework, is comparable to work still being done in the nineteenth century by nuns and pious ladies. It is prayerful work, a devotional exercise in itself, and shows reverence to the tiny relic fragments that it would have framed and honored. Early versions of this sort of handiwork might be found in the meticulous displays sometimes called “Paradise Gardens.” These were made, beginning in the sixteenth century, by the nuns at Mechelen, in northern Belgium, in multimedia handwork displays of sewing and gluing, combining relics with paper, cloth, glass, metal wire, and found materials. These textured and pious displays were then combined with paintings and cases by professional artists and artisans, as in the example in Cassel.
Unfortunately, because of water damage, only one of the labels of the original relic displayed in this reliquary is legible, inscribed “S. Agnes” at the center top; the other names are faded. Presumably the deep velvet-lined box would have also held an assortment of relics other than the ones that were visible through the glass, and perhaps there would have been another display in the glass on the other side of the pendant.
There is a second paper insert, this one decorated with a turquoise ground and silhouette flowers to which bone fragments seem to be still attached.
The octagonal case, in contrast to the paper cutout, is not at all “home-made.” It has an openwork frieze in scrollwork patterns familiar from enamel work and other metalwork done for European courts and nobility. It is not unlike cases for expensive watches...
Category
Antique Early 1600s Italian Pendant Necklaces
Materials
Brass
Renaissance Portrait Cameo of Emperor Vespasian in a Gold Brooch
Located in Chicago, IL
Portrait Cameo of Emperor Vespasian in a Gold Brooch
Agate, gold
Italy?, 16th century
Weight 10.2 gr.; Dimensions 48.7 × 39 mm.
Description:
Three-layered agate cameo (black-white-...
Category
Antique 16th Century Italian Brooches
Materials
Agate, Gold
Georgian Ring as a Token of Love with Seed Pearls and Rose Gold
Located in Chicago, IL
RING AS TOKEN OF LOVE
England or America, about 1800-1820
Rose gold, pearls
Weight 3 gr.; circumference: 56.45 mm.; US size 7.75; UK size P 1/2
The expression of love and friendship is universal in life as in death, and hair mementoes...
Category
Antique Early 19th Century English Georgian Cocktail Rings
Materials
Pearl, Rose Gold
Antique English Gold Band Posy Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
Posy Ring ‘Vertue Gaineth Glory’
England, c. 1700
Gold
Weight 2 gr.; circumference 46.68 mm.; US size 4; UK size H ½
Posy ring featuring floral decoration i...
Category
Antique Early 1700s English Band Rings
Materials
Gold
Renaissance Gold Marriage Ring with Table-Cut Rock Crystal
Located in Chicago, IL
Renaissance Marriage Ring
Western Europe, late 16th century
Gold, rock crystal, traces of white and black enamel
Weight 4.09 g; circumference...
Category
Antique 16th Century European Renaissance Solitaire Rings
Materials
Rock Crystal, Gold
19th century Water Squirt Ring in Silver and Gold with Rock Crystal
Located in Chicago, IL
Squirt Ring
West European, 1800-1900
Silver, gold, rock crystal
Weight 9.4 gr.; circumference 60.38 mm.; cylinder length 41.2 mm US size 9 ¼ ; UK size S ¼
Fascinating nineteenth century party piece, incorporating an elegant and sparkling ring
Description: Squirt ring made of a hollow silver cylinder with four ornamental bands and a cap with plunger. This holds the liquid, and when the plunger is pulled out and pushed back in the squirt mechanism is triggered. At the other end is a hollow ring through which the liquid flows and then squirts out of a small hole on the band next to the gemstone. The gold ring, angled to the cylinder, has a tubular hoop and a gold round-shaped cup bezel with a silver-set, facetted rock crystal gemstone. The ring is fully functionable. The cylinder lies concealed in the palm of the hand.
Punched on the cylinder is a swan, the French guarantee mark for the fineness of silver on items of unknown origin (in use from 1893-1970). Along the gold hoop of the ring are four indistinct hallmarks: a helmeted head (?), two rectangular punch marks, one with lower case ‘g’ in the corner, and traces of two illegible punches.
Provenance: Yves Brasseur (26 February—11 August 2005), Ghent, Belgium, a collector of rings who was a Belgian fencer of Olympic stature, having competed in this sport in the Olympics in the 1960s.
Literature: The earliest account of a squirt ring dates to about 1770 with the description of a diplomatic incident at the Court of Frederick the Great. The French ambassador M. de Guines belonged to the diplomatic corps in Berlin, the capital of the Prussian Empire. His pompous behavior was widely mocked. Prince Dolgorouki, the Russian ambassador was invited to a gala dinner as a guest of honor with his newly wed bride. She was seated next to the French ambassador whom she squirted with water from a mechanism concealed in the palm of her hand, when he was admiring her jewel. He vowed he would throw a glass of water at her if she continued. The
ambassador’s wife ignored his warning, and he in fact put his threat into effect. The guests at the dinner were obliged to keep a discreet silence surrounding this embarrassing occurrence.
The fashion for such squirt rings appears to have continued into the nineteenth century, although few examples are known. The designs and materials vary: bronze ring with mask of Silenus in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Silenus, the god of wine-making and drunkenness, appears again on a squirt ring in form of a garnet cameo...
Category
Antique 19th Century European Solitaire Rings
Materials
Rock Crystal, Quartz, Gold, Silver
17th-Century Gold Band Fede Ring with Heart
Located in Chicago, IL
Fede Ring with Heart
England, 17th century
Gold, enamel
Weight 1.88 gr.; circumference 44.77mm.; US size 3,1/4; UK size F 3/4
Elaborately decorated posy ring, with messages of love and affection.
Gold band, flat on the interior, chased and engraved on the exterior with alternating hearts and rosette motifs. The centerpiece shows two cuffed right hands clasped together holding a heart. Inscribed inside the band in italic script: ‘For love not valer’. Traces of enamel have survived. The ring shows signs of wear through age and is in good wearable condition.
The maker’s mark in rectangular punch inside the hoop has the initials ‘SW’, slightly indistinct due to the punch within the curvature of the hoop.
Literature:
Messages of romantic love on jewelry, and mottoes or inscriptions on plain gold bands go back to the Middle Ages. Beginning in the thirteenth century, ring brooches and rings were given as love tokens and the language of love was expressed in words and amatory motifs.
Each element of this ring expresses love and affection, as well as the union of marriage. The clasped hands or ‘mani in fede’ (Italian term for hands in faith), is a motif derived from the Roman ritual of the joining of the right hands during the betrothal ceremony known as dextrarum iunctio. The right hand was considered to be sacred to Fides, the goddess of trust and good faith. The clasped hands as a symbol of love and marriage has continued in both the ceremony and rings through the centuries, even today.
The alternating hearts and rosettes underline the love message concealed inside the hoop ‘For love not valer’, only to be known by the giver and recipient. The posy declares that the bond of love is more important than wealth.
This fede ring is also a highly elaborate form of posy ring, which are usually simple gold bands with inscription...
Category
Antique 17th Century English Band Rings
Materials
Gold
Enameled Heart-Shaped Pendant with Cherub & Seed Pearls by Carlo Giuliano c.1880
By Carlo Giuliano
Located in Chicago, IL
Carlo Giuliano
HEART-SHAPED PENDANT WITH CHERUB
England (London), c. 1880
Gold, enamel, seed pearls
Weight 8.6 gr.; Height 33.3 (42.1 with loop) mm; Width 30.8 mm;
Of all the Reviv...
Category
Antique 1880s English Revival Pendant Necklaces
Materials
Pearl, Gold, Enamel
Gothic Revival Gold Ring with Joan of Arc by Louis Wièse, Late 19th Century
Located in Chicago, IL
Joan of Arc Ring by Louis Wièse (1852-1930)
France, c. 1890
Gold
Weight 9.3 gr.; Circumference 56.45 mm.; US size 7 3/4; UK size P ½
Cast and chased openwork gold ring with square section hoop, grooved on the lower half and forked at the shoulder to form a triangular frame for a Gothic trefoil...
Category
Antique 1890s French Gothic Revival Cocktail Rings
Materials
Gold
Ancient Gold Roman Ring with Bust of Tyche 'circa late 1st - 2nd century CE'
Located in Chicago, IL
Ring with Bust of Tyche
Roman, late 1st century - 2nd Century AD
Gold
Weight 4.4 gr.; Circumference 43.45 mm.; US size 2 ¾ ; UK size E ½
Miniature sculpture in ring form of the Gree...
Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier European Classical Roman Cocktail Rings
Materials
Gold
Renaissance Revival Chrysolite Enameled Necklace by Giuliano
By Carlo and Arthur Giuliano
Located in Chicago, IL
Carlo and Arthur Giuliano
Renaissance Style Chrysolite Enameled Necklace with original box
England (London), c. 1895
Gold, enamel, chrysolite
Weight 21.4 gr.; Chain 39.8 cm.
Gold necklace with red translucent enamel. The centerpiece is formed of three elaborate scrollwork elements, each framing three, fanned out chrysolites in open settings. These are connected by double chains of stylized floral links in red enamel, and the same links create the three pendants in tapering lengths with pear-drop chrysolites, suspended from the central element, as also the chain around the neck with s-shaped hook fastening. On the hook clasp is the maker’s mark “C&AG.”
Original fitted brown leather case, gilt triple frame, inset with cream colored velvet and on the matching silk lining of the lid is in gold imprint: A crown, C & A Giuliano/ 115, Piccadilly/London.
Self-described as an “art jeweler,” Giuliano began his career on Frith Street in London in 1860. Without a retail shop of his own, he initially supplied jewels to other London firms – Robert Phillip, C. F. Hancock, and Hunt and Roskell...
Category
Antique 1890s English Renaissance Revival Drop Necklaces
Materials
Gold, Enamel
Late 19th-Century Silver and Opal Cape Clasp by Louis Wièse
Located in Chicago, IL
Louis Wièse
Cape Clasp
France (Paris), c. 1890
Silver, opals
Weight 102.8 gr.; Length 22.23 cm.; individual clasp diameter(s) c. 44 mm.
Two openwork roundels in relief show a Chinese dragon head in cast and chased silver, entwined by a serpentine body with bird’s feet and talons. The eyes are formed of opal cabochons. Both roundels are joined by a wire loop and hook as clasp and eight chain links of twisted wire with intersecting plain loops. Traces of gilt remain. On the reverse along the edge of both roundels is the maker’s mark “WIESE” for Louis Wièse.
This beguiling cloak clasp...
Category
Antique 1890s French Gothic Revival Brooches
Materials
Opal, Silver
Late 19th-Century Enameled Brooch with Diamonds by Falize
By Falize
Located in Chicago, IL
Alexis Falize
Brooch with depiction of Renaissance Lady
France (Paris), c. after 1894
Gold, silver, enamel, diamonds
Weight 10.7 gr.; Width 43.6 mm.; Height 22.3 mm.
Gold rectangu...
Category
Antique 1890s French Renaissance Revival Brooches
Materials
Diamond, Gold, Silver, Enamel, 18k Gold
Antique Renaissance Marriage Portrait Cameo in Gold Setting
Located in Chicago, IL
RENAISSANCE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT CAMEO IN MODERN GOLD SETTING
Italy (?), 16th-17th century
White agate, modern gold setting
Weight: 10.8 g.; circumference: 54.4 mm.; size: US 7, UK N ½
Substantial rounded D-section hoop, narrowing at the base supports an oblong collet set with a white agate cameo. The cameo features a female bust behind a male bust in profile facing to the viewer’s left. The man has a curly beard, wears a fillet in his closely cropped hair, and wears a draped toga; the woman is less well defined and wears a palla. Both portraits have flat features. The carving has a metallic quality to its lines which enhances the sheen of the stone. The cameo is in excellent condition; the mount is modern.
The Renaissance welcomed a revival in the ancient art of gem carving and cameos achieved renewed popularity. Important patrons, like the Medici, employed artists and goldsmiths to make dozens of beautiful examples that harkened back to antiquity and displayed current fashions. Double portraits of a man and woman, as with this ring, are called marriage portraits. They take their form from cameos of Roman rulers, mythological lovers, and citizen couples.
Literature
This couple could be a sixteenth-century copy of an ancient gem or it could represent a Renaissnce couple in the guise of a Roman couple. The features do not point to any well-known couples. A double portrait cameo in the Royal Collection (RCIN 65861) provides a nice comparison to this ring and is from the same period. For an ancient example of the double portrait cameo see the Metropolitan Museum’s Germanicus and Agrippina (39.22.18) cameo. Another comparison, see the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (a 17th-century cameo with the double portrait of a couple in a three-layered agate, published in Babelon, 1897, n. 1019). For general information on Renaissance cameos...
Category
Antique 16th Century Renaissance Wedding Rings
Materials
Agate, Gold, Yellow Gold
Antique Gold French Art Nouveau Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
ART NOUVEAU OPHELIA RING
France, 1909
Gold
Weight 11.5 gr., US size 7.25, UK size O ½
This sculptural ring is made of cast and finely chased gold. The hoop widens and merges into the bezel. The shoulders are subtly molded with entwined twigs and foliage which encircle a female head in high relief. The woman is depicted with her eyes almost shut and with a water lily to one side of her forehead. The hoop itself is plain inside and, on the outside, its polished surface has an engraved inscription in French: “11 Mars 1909.” On the bottom of the exterior of the hoop is a lozenge-shaped French maker’s mark that can no longer be deciphered. There is also a French warranty mark for gold in the form of an eagle facing right and the mark “DEPOSE,” signifying that it is a registered design. This high-quality rendering of a woman’s head compares in its detail with large bronze sculptures of the period by Alphonse Maria Mucha and the French sculptors Maurice Bouval or Léopold Savine...
Category
Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau More Rings
Materials
Gold, Yellow Gold
Antique Gold English "Posy" Band Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
POSY RING “I HAVE OBTAINED WHOME GOD ORDAIND”
England, 17th century
Gold
Circumference 58 mm.; weight 7.9 gr.; US size 8/8 ½ ; UK size Q ½
The plain hoop, flat on the interior and r...
Category
Antique 17th Century English Band Rings
Materials
Gold, Yellow Gold
Antique Gold Art Nouveau Ring by Arvisenet
Located in Chicago, IL
ART NOUVEAU NYMPH AND SATYR RING BY ARVISENET
France, Paris?, c. 1900
Gold
Weight 17 gr., US size 10.5, UK size U ½
This sculptural ring is cast in gol...
Category
Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Fashion Rings
Materials
Gold, Yellow Gold
Antique Architectural Rock Crystal Pendant
Located in Chicago, IL
ROCK CRYSTAL PENDANT WITH COLUMN
France or Italy, 16th century
Fire-gilded silver, rock crystal, verre églomisé
Weight 96 grams; dimensions 75 × 35 × 21 mm (with loop)
Architec...
Category
Antique 16th Century Medieval Pendant Necklaces
Materials
Crystal, Rock Crystal, Gilt Metal
Antique Gold English "Posy" Band Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
Posy Ring, “No riches to content”
England, 18th century
Gold
Weight 2.8 gr.; circumference 60.98; US size 9.5, UK size S ¾
Gold band with D-section, plain on the exterior and on the interior are probably the initials of the giver “DMI” in capital letters and dotted lines (or a cryptic message in abbreviation), and the engraved inscription in italics “No riches to content.” The ring is in good wearable condition.
The maker’s mark in a crowned rectangular punch has the initials “DC” in capital letters may tentatively be identified with the London based goldsmiths Daniel Charter (registered in 1740), see: Arthur G...
Category
Antique 18th Century English Band Rings
Materials
Gold, Yellow Gold
Antique Gold English "Posy" Band Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
Gold Ring, "Franciscus South miles"
England, 17th century
Gold, traces of enamel
Weight 3.3 gr.; circumference 50.58; US size 5.5; UK size L
Gold band with D-section on the exterior of the hoop engraved with flowers (forget-me-nots, carnations, and daisies). The ring was originally enameled, and traces of black enamel remain. Inside the hoop engraved in italic script "Franciscus South miles" (Franciscus South, knight). Also inside the hoop is a punch in shield form with a capital letter “S." probably a maker’s mark, which remains unidentified. The ring is in good wearable condition.
From the Middle Ages onwards rings bearing a motto or inscription with personal message became ever more popular. Plain gold bands...
Category
Antique 17th Century English Band Rings
Materials
Gold, Yellow Gold
Antique Gold Roman Intaglio Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
Roman Ring with Intaglio of Mars
Roman, 4th century AD, intaglio 3rd century AD
Gold, nicolo
Weight: 15.3 gr.; Circumference: 49.32 mm.; US size 5; UK size J ½
This deceptively heavy gold ring...
Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Italian Classical Roman Band Rings
Materials
Onyx, Gold
Antique Gold English Band 'Posey' Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
Posy Ring, “A true friends gift”
England (Plymouth ?), first half of 18th century
Gold
Weight 4.2 gr.; circumference 60.38 mm.; US size 9.25, UK size S ¼
Description:
Wide gold ba...
Category
Antique Early 18th Century English Band Rings
Materials
Gold
Antique English Gold Band 'Posey' Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
POSY RING “LET UARTU BE GIDE TO THE”
England, 17th Century
Gold
Weight 3.1g; circumference: 60.1mm ; size: US 9.25, UK S
Medium hoop, with rounded exterior and flat interior. Italic inscription reads: “Let uartu be gide to the.” A maker’s mark, CB (or LB?) app...
Category
Antique 17th Century English Band Rings
Materials
Gold
Antique Gold Pendant with Diamonds and Pearls
Located in Chicago, IL
Pendant with Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven
Western Europe, Southern Germany (?), Italy (?), c. 1550-1560
Gold, enamel, diamonds, and pearls
Weight 13.2 gr; Length 36.9 x 31.2 mm (incl. pearls)
This sumptuous image exudes regal power. It portrays the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven wearing a dress and crown studded with seven large diamonds and set against a translucent, rich blue celestial background. Far removed from the tender, humble Virgin seen in German and Netherlandish artworks of the period, she is a majestic ruler, mouth sternly set, head tilted upward, and face in full profile.
The oval pendant cast in high gold relief with a central medallion, the single figure filling the space, echoes jewelry portraits of the aristocracy during the Renaissance, which similarly offset the ruler’s image against a blue field composed of enamel or lapis lazuli, symbolic of divine power Only the rays of the shining gold halo that emerge behind the Virgin’s head and her long flowing hair (instead of neatly coiffed) distinguish her from female ruler portraits of the period. Three studded pearls, forming an axis, also recall pendants of European rulers.
Wealth, royal status, and divine power come together in this opulent pendant. Portraits of the period show similar small oval pendants worn by women in the square of the garment or by men nestled inside multiple chains below the base of the neck.
PROVENANCE
European Private Collection
LITERATURE
Compare images from ancient Rome, for example a sardonyx cameo with female head (Kugel 2000, no. 18; Milan, c. 1550), and a pendant with gold, pearls, and enamel in the Staatliche Museum Kassel (Schmidberger/Richter 2001, no. 43; France, c. 1555-1560). For ruler pendants with blue backgrounds see a pendant of King Frances I...
Category
Antique 16th Century Pendant Necklaces
Materials
Diamond, Pearl, Gold
Antique Spanish Jet Amulet Pendant with Figa
Located in Chicago, IL
AMULET PENDANT WITH FIGA
Spain, c. 1620–1630
Jet, silver, and enamel
Weight 60.7 grams; dimensions 85 × 49 × 18 mm
Large pendant in the shape of a hand carved from jet with a clinched fist in the figa (Spanish higa) gesture. In the palm of the hand is a heart carved in relief and on the back a six-ray star in a circle. The silver mount covers the wrist like a cuff and is decorated with a frilled border, and on the front with collet-set bosses with silver C-scrolls against blue enamel; on the back is a roundel in relief with floral motif. Domed base for the pendant loop in pea-pod form.
The figa (also fica or higa) represents an age-old symbol of protection against the evil eye and other demonic threats. Its origins were pagan and buried deep in antiquity. Roman examples, such as one found recently in an archeological excavation in London, also make it clear that the protective qualities are based in a sexual symbolism–particularly the power of the phallus. The Roman bone figa/phallus in effect represents the phallus twice; that is, the gesture made by the figa hand is generally explained as fingers representing the female genitalia (vulva) penetrated by the phallus of the thumb. But other interpretations are less specific, including explanations that the left hand is the feminine principle, and the right hand is the masculine.
In Spain, jet figa are common; we see one in the portrait of Anne of Austria the infanta (p. 75). That is not to say that the objects are not sumptuous or treasured. Jet was a very valuable material, and in many examples like this one, the figa is embellished with beautiful enameling or is even gem-studded. Comparable objects occur in equally sumptuous materials such as rock crystal.
The enameled setting allows a dating of these objects that otherwise might prove difficult, given that the production of such objects in Spain is so consistent over centuries. Indeed, there is another, even more elaborately carved example in this collection, attached to the “magic belt” (no. 9). That example may belong to an earlier group.
That figa includes deeply excavated carving, including on the upper surface, an M-shaped design that Walter Leo Hildburgh links to the heart shape (as it occurs more explicitly on this example). Hildburgh argues that its presence is especially common on these objects and that it originally represented the Sacred Heart of Mary...
Category
Antique Early 17th Century Spanish Pendant Necklaces
Materials
Silver
Antique Reliquary Book Pendant Locket
Located in Chicago, IL
RELIQUARY PENDANT IN BOOK FORM
Probably southern Germany, 1630–40
Gilded silver, verre églomisé
Weight 13.2 grams; dimensions 42 × 25 × 12 mm; opens to 40 mm
Gilded silver pendant in book form with hinged, lid, corded wire surround, and engraved spine. The front cover of the book is set with a plaque depicting Moses receiving the Law in verre églomisé, and the back cover shows the Sacrifice of Abraham. The scenes are in gold against a red background. When opened, the book reveals two portraits, probably of a husband and wife, wearing seventeenth-century dress. The costumes suggest a date c. 1630-40; the wife holds a daisy. Trefoil-shaped pendant loop on top and bottom, and book clasp.
As in the scenario described for the assemblage of these pendant miniature books (see no. 34), this book may have satisfied the desires of a particular patron, perhaps even one of the Jewish faith. The images that have been chosen for the four verre églomisé inserts are somewhat unusual within the group of comparable objects; on the front is Moses, on the back is the Sacrifice of Isaac. On the inside, instead of an iconic or doctrinal image, one sees portraits of the patron and his wife, in their finest dress, contents reminiscent of a modern locket...
Category
Antique Mid-17th Century Pendant Necklaces
Materials
Gilt Metal
Antique Silver Twisted Band Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
Twisted Band Ring
Silver
England, 15th-16th century
Weight 2.9 gr.; circumference 51.9 mm.; US size 6, UK size M
The wide silver hoop is slightly rounded inside with an original solder point and twisted and beaded on the outer side. Between one of the grooves on the outer side are two out-of-place beads where a punch was apparently hammered in the wrong position. The ring is in good wearable condition.
This beautiful, wearable ring consists of a spiral-grooved hoop. The twisting, fluted band is typical of medieval iconographic rings...
Category
Antique 16th Century English Medieval Band Rings
Materials
Silver
Antique Gold Renaissance Pinky Ring with Two Dogs
Located in Chicago, IL
Renaissance Ring
Western Europe, likely Italy, mid-16th c.
Gold and traces of black and white enamel
Bezel 15 x 3 x 4 mm.; circumference 42 mm.; weight 2.7 gr.; US size 2 ¼; UK size ...
Category
Antique 16th Century Renaissance Fashion Rings
Materials
Gold
Antique English Gold Band 'Posey' Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
POSY RING “GOD ABOVE INCREASE OUR LOVE”
England, 17th century
Gold
Circumference 57.8 mm.; weight 4.3 gr.; US size 8 ½; UK size Q 1/2
The rounded hoop, flat on its perimeters, is en...
Category
Antique 17th Century English Band Rings
Materials
Gold
Antique Gold and Agate Renaissance Cameo Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
RENAISSANCE CAMEO RING
Italy, cameo: second half of 16th century in a late 18th century ring
Gold, agate , black enamel
Weight 6.3 gr.; bezel 18.8 x 16.9 x 6.5 mm.; circumference 58.4 mm.; US size 8¾; UK size R
Cameo of a nude female bust...
Category
Antique Late 17th Century Italian Renaissance More Rings
Materials
Agate, Gold
"LOVE" Ring by Robert Indiana
By Robert Indiana
Located in Chicago, IL
“LOVE” RING BY ROBERT INDIANA
United States, 1969
Gilded brass
Weight 17.5 gr., US size 6.5, UK size N
This cast ring of gilded brass has a wide flat hoop that is textured on the inside and outside and displays shiny beveled edges. The shoulders expand, merging into a sculptural bezel with a polished surface forming the word “LOVE,” composed in two lines. Ring as sculpture, ring as symbol, ring as icon, and ring as art are all embodied in this compelling object, which still functions today as a powerful sign for the so-called “Love Generation” of the 1960s. Never worn, our ring is still in its original case in an Ultima II box. The “LOVE” ring...
Category
Vintage 1960s American Modernist Fashion Rings
Materials
Gold
Antique Gold Iconographic Band Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
Iconographic Ring with St. Christopher
England, c. 1450-70
Gold, traces of blue enamel
Weight 8 gr.; circumference 65.5 mm.; US size 11.25; UK siz...
Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier English Medieval Band Rings
Materials
Gold
Antique Baroque Italian Glass Rosette Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
ITALIAN GLASS DECORATIVE RING
Italy, 17th century
Gold and foiled glass
Weight: 4.4 g; circumference 57.6 mm; size: US 8.25, UK Q
Gold sexfoil bezel set with six diamond-shaped and table cut glass stones over foil. Each petal is interspersed with a round rock crystal bead, with a seventh in the center. The back of the bezel is sculpted to emphasize the floral shape of the ring. A fine D-ring hoop terminates in fluted shoulder molded to the underside of the second and fourth petals. The foils have oxidized to green on each petal with the exception of the fourth petal where the foil now appears a rust color. The ring is in very good condition.
The attention paid to gems over the goldsmith’s settings prevailed in the first half of the seventeenth-century. Examples of this new fashion in jewelry are evident in items from the Cheapside Hoard and in design books from across Baroque Europe. Often, as with the present ring, the gems were highlighted by their rosette style settings.
Literature
An almost identical setting for a hat ornament was found in the Cheapside Hoard (Museum of London A14082; see Princely Magnificence, Victoria and Albert Museum 1981, p. 25 and Forsyth, London, 2013). These rosette designs may have been inspired by Merovingian jewelry (see for example a fibula conserved in Saint-Omer; Le Nord de la France de Théodose à Charles Martel...
Category
Antique 17th Century Italian Baroque Cluster Rings
Materials
Rock Crystal, Gold
Antique Eastern European Silver Cross Pendant
Located in Chicago, IL
RELIQUARY CROSS PENDANT
Balkans (probably Bulgaria), 18th-19th century
Gilded silver, glass pastes
Weight 40.7 grams; dimensions 74 × 15 × 10 mm
Double-sided pendant made of gilded silver filigree in the shape of a Greek cross, with pendant loop. The front and side panels composed of intricate filigree scrolls, globules, and a central rosette. Interspersed are crimped collet settings with corded wire base and red, blue, and green glass-paste gem...
Category
Antique 18th Century More Jewelry
Materials
Silver, Gilt Metal
Antique Spanish Hat Badge Pendant Carved in Jet
Located in Chicago, IL
BADGE WITH ST. JAMES THE GREAT
Northern Spain, 16th century
Silver, jet
Weight 18.2 grams; dimensions 44 × 43 × 12 mm
Round pendant with high-relief image of St. James the Great of Santiago de Compostela carved in jet. The saint is flanked by two pilgrims (their heads defaced); each holds a staff and rosary in his hand. Silver mount with plain flat backplate, corded wire surround and toothed edge as setting. Four pendant loops for sewing onto a hat or cloak.
According to the Roman naturalist Pliny, jet, the material of which this pin was made, prevented snakebite and was “thrown up by the sea.” The first quality would certainly have been reassuring for a pilgrim who owned this object and who had to make long journeys over unfamiliar terrain. The second quality made jet an especially fitting material to honor St. James, given that his body arrived in Spain mysteriously, carried there “by the sea” from the Holy Land. Santiago de Compostela was a major center
for jet carving from the late Middle Ages, and highly polished jet was a desirable and common material for pilgrimage souvenirs. One even finds scallop shells, the pilgrim’s badge...
Category
Antique 16th Century Spanish More Objets d'Art and Vertu
Materials
Silver
Antique Italian Cameo Hair Pin with Double Portrait of Cosimo I de Medici
Located in Chicago, IL
Cameo with Double Portrait of Cosimo I de Medici and Camella Martelli
Cameo, Northern Italy, late 16th century; mount with pin 18th century and later
Gold, onyx
Weight 3.7 gr.; 14.88 mm.
Two-layered onyx cameo (white on translucent pale brown) with jugate heads facing to the right looking upwards. The male head with short curly hair, beard and moustache wears a tunic draped around his neck and shoulders. The female head in the background has her hair tied back. They are cut in the white layer of the stone with translucent pale brown background. The cameo is convex on the reverse and open-set in a pendant with plain gold collet and rounded edges. A long gold pin is attached to the pendant loop and the opposite end has a section of coiled wire
Literature:
Portraits of Roman Emperors were popular and highly fashionable during the Renaissance period, rulers would often be portrayed like their ancient counterparts, also as a double portrait with spouse, or known as jugate heads. The individual features of the couple portrayed here suggest it could be a double portrait of Cosimo I de Medici (1519-1574) at a slightly older age and his second wife Camilla Martelli, Duchess Consort of Florence (1545-1590) whom he married in 1570. Bust sculptures of Cosimo de Medici in the Galleria Uffizi by Baccio Bandinelli...
Category
Antique 16th Century Italian Renaissance More Jewelry
Materials
Onyx, Gold
Antique Clock Watch Ring by Brédillard
Located in Chicago, IL
WATCH RING BY BRÉDILLARD
France, Paris, c. 1900-1910
Gold, diamonds and green enamel
Weight 11.6 gr., US size 6.5, UK size N
This gold ring is composed of ...
Category
Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Fashion Rings
Materials
Diamond, White Diamond, Gold
Antique English Gold Band 'Posy' Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
POSY RING “PIETY IS THE BEST MONUMENT”
England, 17th century
Gold
Weight: 1.5 g.; circumference: 60.1 mm.; size: US 9.25, UK S
Fine, irregular, D-section ho...
Category
Antique 17th Century English Band Rings
Materials
Gold
Antique Gold Italian Renaissance Cameo Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
RENSAISSANCE CAMEO RING
Italy? 16th century in a 20th century setting
Gold and sardonyx
Weight 6.5 gr.; bezel 16.1 x 16.9 x 7.4 mm.; circumference 50.3 mm.; US size 5½; UK size L
In this oblong cameo, the bust of a woman wearing a necklace but otherwise nude stands above a blue ground. While her breast faces forward, her head is rendered in a strict profile and her hands gesture to her right. The minimalist gold setting is modern and dates to the twentieth century.
Cameos depicting nude female figures became popular in the court circles of sixteenth-century Italy, where newly-formed princely collections of ancient gems served as models for contemporary hardstone artists. Following ancient practice, the artist responsible for the current cameo has cut into two layers of the multicolor agate, creating a background of milky blue that contrasts with the white flesh of the woman above. The sharp profile of the woman’s face likewise recalls the art of the ancient Romans, who often used the profile view for portraits on coins, medals, and engraved gems...
Category
Antique 16th Century Renaissance Fashion Rings
Materials
Gold
Antique English Gold Band 'Posy' Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
POSY RING “BE TRUE TO ME AS I TO THEE”
England, 17th century
Gold
Weight: 1.9 gr.; circumference: 57.6 mm.; size: US 8.25, UK Q
Fine D-sectioned hoop. Engr...
Category
Antique 17th Century English Band Rings
Materials
Gold
Antique Gold Locket Swivel Ring with Portrait of Napoléon Bonaparte
Located in Chicago, IL
Swivel Ring with Portrait of Napoleon in a Crystal Locket
France, c. 1815
Weight 1.7 gr.; bezel 12.6 x 10 mm.; circumference 58.21 mm.; US size 8 1/2; UK size Q 3/4
The bezel of this rare historic...
Category
Antique Early 19th Century French More Rings
Materials
Crystal, Gold
Fifteenth Century Reliquary Pendant with Christ on the Cross
Located in Chicago, IL
Reliquary Pendant with Christ on the Cross
Germany, c. 1480–1500
Gilded silver
Weight 35 grams; dimensions 69 × 46 × 8 mm
A mixture of forms gives t...
Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier German Figurines and Sculptures
Materials
Silver, Gilt Metal
Antique Silver Spanish Cross Pendant with Rock Crystals
Located in Chicago, IL
Cross Pendant with Rock Crystals
Spain or Portugal, late 17th - early 18th century
Silver, gold, rock crystal
Weight 9.1 gr.; Dimensions 56.3 × 38.8 mm.
An elaborate and elegant cross pendant made of silver with rock crystals in closed settings. The center consists of a larger round gemstone surrounded by five irregular-shaped stones forming the cross. The openwork arms have a triangular shape and are formed of facetted rock-crystals in foliate settings. The obverse side of the cross consists of a layer of gold. An extension with two stones and an angular shaped frame is hooked into the pendant loop, probably to be worn on a velvet band. The pendant is in good, wearable condition.
After the Reformation, cross pendants were worn mainly in Catholic countries by men, women, and children. During the seventeenth century, the designs became ever more intricate, and the crosses were often embellished with gemstones, such as rock crystals in this example. These were sourced along the Alpine regions of France, Switzerland, Austria, and Southern Germany. The stones gave the appearance of diamonds.
The foliate settings are characteristic of late seventeenth- and eighteenth-century jewelry made in Spain...
Category
Antique Late 17th Century Pendant Necklaces
Materials
Crystal, Rock Crystal, Gold, Gold Plate, Silver
Renaissance Gemstone Ring with Garnet and Enamel
Located in Chicago, IL
Renaissance Gemstone Ring
Northern Italy, 16th century
Gold, garnet and enamel
Circumference 60 mm.; weight 4 gr.; US size 9; UK size R ½
The ...
Category
Antique 16th Century Italian Renaissance Engagement Rings
Materials
Gold
Antique Art Nouveau Lady with Pearl Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
Art Nouveau Lady with Pearl Ring
France or Belgium, c. 1900
Gold, pearl
Weight 11.2 gr., US size 5.5, UK size L
This sculptural gold ring is cast and...
Category
Antique Early 1900s Unknown Art Nouveau More Rings
Materials
Pearl, Gold
Antique English Gold Band Posy Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
Posy ring, "A loving wife during life"
England, mid-18th century
Gold
Weight 4.4 gr.; circumference: 55.76 mm.; US size 7.75; UK size P ½
“Posy rings,” the...
Category
Antique Mid-18th Century English Band Rings
Materials
Gold
Antique Gold Fede Gimmel Ring with Ruby and Diamond
Located in Chicago, IL
Gimmel Fede RIng with Inscription "GAGE D'AMITIE"
Probably England, c. 1750
Gold, ruby and diamonds
Weight 6.5 gr., US size 8.25, UK size Q ½
This gold ring...
Category
Antique Mid-18th Century Engagement Rings
Materials
Diamond, Ruby, Gold
Post-Modern Gold Ionic Capital Rings Stanley Tigerman
Located in Chicago, IL
Ionic Capital Rings by Stanley Tigerman
United States and Italy, 1986-1987
Complete width 46 mm., diameter of hoops 21 mm. and 22 mm., bezel when worn...
Category
Vintage 1980s Contemporary Fashion Rings
Materials
Gold, 18k Gold