finger-ring

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

Object Type: finger-ring
Museum number: 1899,0520.2
Description: Finger-ring; gold, emerald, niello; the conical bezel rises from the hoop and is supported by two open-work scrolls issuing from two semi-circular knobs decorated with nielloed stars and rosettes. The hoop of triangular section is engraved in black letter with the legend: '+ QUI PLUS DESPENT QUA LI NAFIERT / SANS COLP FERIR A MORT SE FIERT' ('He who spends more than belongs to him/ Kills himself without striking a blow').
Cultures/periods: Late Medieval
Production date: 14thC
Production place: Made in: England
Findspot: Found/Acquired: Queen's Head Tavern
Materials: gold; emerald; niello
Dimensions: Diameter: 20 millimetres; Weight: 41 grains
$Inscriptions
Curator's comments: Text from Alexander & Binski 1987, see bibliography: 'It is unusual to find such an elaborate inscription on a ring. The use of French rather than English raises the possibility that this ring is a French import, but French was still widely used in England among the nobility.'
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. (929); Evans 1931 / English Posies and Posy Rings (p13); Ward et al 1981 / The Ring from Antiquity to the Twentieth Century (no136); Alexander & Binski 1987 / The Age of Chivalry. Art in Plantagenet England, 1200-1400 (no655)
Location: Not on display
Exhibition history: Exhibited: 1987-1988 6 Nov-6 Mar, London, Royal Academy of Arts, Age of Chivalry: Art in Plantagenet England 1200-1400
Subjects: flower
Acquisition name: Purchased from: Rollin & Feuardent
Acquisition date: 1899
Acquisition notes: Found 1898
Department: Britain, Europe and Prehistory
Registration number: 1899,0520.2

Free entry

Opening hours