Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu

A late Medieval gold posy ring, inscribed to the exterior with flower heads and foliage within spiralling lines, the interior engraved in black letter script ‘EN BOUN AN’, translating from French as ‘FOR A GOOD YEAR’, no maker’s marks or hallmarks, ring size O½. £2,600-£3,200

Provenance: From a Northern Irish Collection, thence by descent.

The ring was recorded by the Ulster Museum (Reference 2003.88) in December 2003. An accompanying letter dated 17 December 2003 (a copy of this letter is included with this lot - client address details obscured) from Cormac Bourke, Curator of Medieval Antiquities from the Ulster Museum, references the fact that John Cherry, formerly of the British Museum, confirmed a 15th century date and wrote:
“The exterior would have been enamelled and would really have looked quite pretty with flowers and leaves in a spiralling pattern. The inscription reads ‘en boun an’ and indicates that the ring was probably a New Year’s gift. Such rings were very often given out to retainers, relatives, friends and supporters at the beginning of the year: I don’t remember coming across a similar ring from Ireland”.