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    Medieval gold posy ring "TO LIVE IN LOVE IS MY LIFE HAIL MARY"

    $8,800 (approx conversion from £6950)

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    Avon, United Kingdom

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    About this item

    This is a very rare medieval gold posy ring, inscribed outside the band in Lombardic script set with niello enamel (traces remain) 

    "+AMORIE:ENT:VIVAS:EST:MA:VIE:AVE:MARIA" for "TO LIVE IN LOVE IS MY LIFE HAIL MARY". It appears some of the letterings have been hidden by their absence (I have highlighted these in red) This spells out ORTIA TARIA or retains a hidden message?  The style of lettering in the Lombardic script gives us a date of 1180 - 1320 AD.  Posy rings, the name deriving from poesy ('poetry'), are rings with inscriptions that express affection, friendship and love. Rhyming or cryptic inscriptions were fashionable from around 1200-1500, and were written in Latin but more commonly in French, the language of courtly love. Both these languages were spoken and understood fairly widely by the elite in medieval Europe. A comparable gold posy ring has been recorded from East Riding of York YORYM-0A0FD2

    This is a perfect example of an early Posy ring, especially one written in Latin with a hidden meaning!

    OBJECT: Posy Ring

    CULTURE:  Medieval

    DATE: c. 1250 - 1300 AD

    MATERIAL: Gold & Niello

    RING SIZE:    7   (US)     (UK)

    SIZE: 19.1mm x 2.2mm 

    WEIGHT:  1.43grams

    PROVENANCE:  Formerly in a private collection Gloucestershire, ex. B. Cavill collection.

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    Additional Information

    Code

    12113 (AB-101281)

    Period

    Pre 1600, Middle Age, Medieval

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