Wide gold triple band, plain on the interior and engraved on the exterior with three scrollwork friezes. The exterior retains traces of black enamel. Inside the band is an inscription in Roman capitals, arranged in two lines: YOVRS IN HART TYL / DEATH VS DEPARTE (“Yours in heart till death do us part”). The ring shows signs of age-related wear, most evident in the loss of enamel and a few small holes, but it remains in good, wearable condition.

United Kingdom, The Jonest Collection, published in: Diana Scarisbrick and Sonja Butler, Marvels in Miniature, The Jonest Collection of Rings, London 2024, p. 158, no. 110.

Posy rings derive their name from the term poésie, or poetry. These rings bear inscribed mottoes either in prose or verse. From the fifteenth century onward, such rings were known to be exchanged between lovers, friends and family members expressing affection, friendship, faith, or even New Year wishes. Early examples feature inscriptions engraved on the exterior of the band, while later examples—such as the present ring—conceal their mottoes inside the hoop with their personal messages known only to the giver and recipient. Posy rings are mentioned in the plays of William Shakespeare (1564–1616), including Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice. They enjoyed enduring popularity throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, particularly as betrothal and wedding rings.

 

The inscription of the present ring suggests that it would have been given as a token of marriage.It presents a romantic interpretation of the traditional marriage vow “till death do us part,” a lifelong promise to love and cherish one another “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health,” a phrase still used in ceremonies today. The verse “TYL DEATH VS DEPARTE” originates from the 1549 Book of Common Prayer, in which the marriage vows were first printed in English during the Reformation, replacing the Latin liturgical texts and making them accessible to a wider public.

 

Joan Evans, in her compendium of posy ring mottoes, records two similar inscriptions on later rings sold as a part of an anonymous collection at the London saleroom Glendining in 1929: “Yours in hart till death depart” and “Be true in hart till death depart.” (Evans, 1931, pp. 26, 111; Glendining Catalogue: Coins, Medals and Antiquities, 18–19 April 1929, p. 27, lot 295.) For a comparable double-band ring, see another example in the Jonest Collection also dated to the sixteenth century (Diana Scarisbrick and Sonja Butler, 2024, p. 159, no. 111).

 

For a history of posy rings with extensive examples ranging from the medieval to the eighteenth century, see Scarisbrick 2021; for further studies on posy inscriptions, see A Garland of Love: A Collection of Posy-Ring Mottoes, London, 1907; Dalton 1912, pp. 174 ff.; Evans 1931; Oman 1974, pp. 39 ff.; Taylor and Scarisbrick 1978; Scarisbrick 2007, pp. 74 ff.