Rings

POSY RING FOR MARRIAGE WITH LOVE BOUND BY FAITH

Wide gold band, flat and plain on the interior and rounded on the exterior, with spiral fluting accompanied by beaded edges. Engraved in the grooved banding is the black letter motto in French “nul fe bien” (none so good or you’re the best), alternating with ornate flower sprigs, with traces of black and white enamel. The ring shows signs of wear through age and is 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. 76, no. 44.

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, such as the present ring, feature inscriptions engraved on the exterior of the band, while later examples 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.

 

This distinctive design with spiraling fluted grooves is typically found on medieval rings of the fifteenth century, either as simple bands or as iconographic rings engraved with images of saints. For the latter, see examples in gold and silver in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv. nos. M.211-1975 and 692-1871; cf. Oman 1930, nos. 725, 729; see also inv. no. M.818-1926, published in Oman 1930, cat. 725). A ring with comparable twisted-band decoration and the love motto “uphaf ye (heart symbol) entier” (“Lift up your whole heart”), inscribed in black letters inside the hoop, was found in the Fishpool Hoard, buried in 1464 during the Wars of the Roses. It is now in the British Museum, London (1967,1208.1, published in: Marian Campbell, Medieval Jewellery in Europe 1100–1500, London 2009, pp. 10–11, fig. 4).

 

The motto of this ring, “nul se bien” (“none so good”), derives from biblical sources, including Mark 10:18: “And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God.” The inscription would have served as a moral reminder to the wearer that none is as good as God, and as an encouragement to live according to this ethos. Faith, belief, and love were inextricably linked in early modern concepts of marriage and the hoped-for success of the couple’s union, and the ring was therefore likely intended as a wedding ring.

 

The antiquarian and archaeologist John Evans (1823–1908) described a closely comparable inscription on a ring from his own collection in 1892: “I have one bearing on the bezel a beautifully executed figure of St George, and inside the words, Nul si bien” (John Evans, Posy-rings: A Friday evening discourse at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, March 25, 1892, London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1892, p. 10). This is likely the same motto, “nul si bien,” later recorded by his daughter Joan Evans in her compendium on posy rings (Evans 1931, p. 12), noted as having belonged to her elder brother, Sir Arthur Evans.

 

For a history of posy rings with extensive examples ranging from the medieval to the eighteenth century, see Scarisbrick 2021; for further studies on posies, 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. See also for an analysis of posies found on rings, ring brooches, and seals: Malcolm Jones, “The Beautiful Game: Courtly Love Posies in Anglo Norman Inscribed Jewellery and Seals,” in Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 2024, 177:1, pp. 101-130.