finger-ring

Please enable JavaScript in your web browser to get the best experience.

Object Type
Museum number: 1888,1201.9
Description: Finger-ring; copper or bronze gilt; relief; quadrangular bezel with raised setting containing flat crystal; four sides depicting Evangelists' symbols; one shoulder depicts arms of Piccolomini surmounted by crossed keys, other shoulder depicts tiara with infulae enclosing inscription at back of hoop; inscription within hoop.
Production date: 15thC
Materials: copper (?); bronze (?); gold; mineral
Technique: gilded; relief
Dimensions: Height: 32.80 millimetres; Length: 40.17 millimetres; Weight: 201.75 grammes; Width: 48.46 millimetres
$Inscriptions
Curator's comments: Text from Dalton 1912, Catalogue of Finger Rings: 'In the inside is engraved: Thomas Windus, F.S.A., Stamford Hill, 1819. A ring with the same arms and legend is in the Bargello at Florence. Cf. also examples in the Victoria and Albert Museum (nos. 665, 667-'71) and the Ashmolean Museum (no.429); also Catalogue of the Antiquities, &c., exhibited in the Ironmongers' Hall, London, p.497, 1869'. Text from Ward, Cherry et al, 'The Ring from Antiquity to the Twentieth Century,' London 1981, pl.193. The bezel of this ring is set with a flat crystal in a raised setting; on the sides of the stone are the Evangelists' symbols. The arms of the Piccolomini family surmounted by crossed keys are on one shoulder, on the other the papal tiara and the legend: PAPA PIO ('Pope Pius'). The cast detail on the outside is crude. At least nine other rings of this type bear the name of Pope Pius II PIccolomini (1458-64). The size and prominent display of insignia and name suggest that this heavy ring may have been used for wearing on the gloved thumb or finger of a courier or ambassador.
Bibliographic references: Dalton 1912 / Franks Bequest Catalogue of the Finger Rings, Early Christian, Byzantine, Teutonic, Mediaeval and Later, Bequeathed by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks, KCB, in which are included the other rings of the same period in the Museum. (855); Ward et al 1981 / The Ring from Antiquity to the Twentieth Century
Location: Not on display
Exhibition history: Exhibited: 2018 - 2019 8 Jun - 20 Jan, Ottawa, Canadian Museum of History, Medieval Europe 2017 11 Jul – 22 Oct, Spain, CaixaForum Zaragoza, Medieval Europe. 2017 9 Mar – 18 Jun, Spain, CaixaForum Barcelona, Medieval Europe, 2016 - 2017 19 Oct – 5 Feb, Spain, CaixaForum Madrid, Medieval Europe, 2015 - 2016 11 Dec- 10 Apr, Australia, Brisbane, Queensland Museum, Medieval Europe, power and legacy.
Subjects: heraldry; headgear/hairstyle
Associated names: Emblem of: St Matthew; Emblem of: St Mark; Emblem of: St Luke; Emblem of: St John the Evangelist; Emblem of: Ascanio Piccolomini; Associated with: Pope Pius II; Named in inscription: Thomas Windus
Associated places: Named in inscription: Stamford Hill
Acquisition name
Acquisition date: 1888
Department: Britain, Europe and Prehistory
Registration number: 1888,1201.9

Free entry

Opening hours