finger-ring
- Museum number
- 1978,1002.515
- Description
-
Finger-ring in gold with an oblong bezel set with a boxwood carving of a pastoral scene with a cherub and a dog, under glass, bordered with diamonds set in silver. French assay marks on reverse of bezel.
- Production date
- 1775-1781
- Dimensions
-
Height: 3.20 centimetres (bezel)
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Text from catalogue of the Hull Grundy Gift (Gere et al 1984) no.226:
Boxwood and pearwood carvings in this style were made by the Italian craftsman Giuseppe Maria Bonzanigo (1745-1820) and the pupils in his workshop, where miniature ivory carvings were also executed.
See 227 which is probably from the same workshop. (Charlotte Gere)
Text from Ward, Cherry et al, 'The Ring from Antiquity to the Twentieth Century,' London 1981, pl.254.
Minute sandlewood and fruitwood carvings for use in jewellery or to ornament box lids were the speciality of a craftsman of Italian origin, Guiseppe-Maria Bonzanigo (1745-1820) and his pupils. Jewellery like this finger-ring, in settings of French manufacture, survives set with such carvings dating from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries; it seems, therefore, possible that Bonzanigo worked in France.
Information supplementary to catalogue of the Hull Grundy Catalogue 1984:
The assay mark was previously identified as in use in Rennes, but the mark is not the same as that used in Rennes and the ring was more likely to have been made in Paris. For illustration of the regional variations of the charge mark in use during the period when Jean-Baptiste Fouache was fermier général (tax collector) at the Paris assay office (1775-81), see Jacques Helft, 'Le Poinçon des Provinces Françaises', Paris 1968, Pl. 1.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1978
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1978,1002.515
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: HG.515 (masterlist number)
