Gold Tart Mold Ring with Sapphire
, Probably England, 13th – 14th century
Gold Tart Mold Ring with Sapphire
Description
SEPTEMBER’S BIRTHSTONE IN QUINTESSENTIAL GOTHIC STYLE
Gold ring with a slender, rounded hoop widening slightly toward the shoulders and terminating in small rectangular inserts with engraved zigzag frieze. These support an octagonal bezel with curved concave sides, a flat underside, and a tapered top set with an oval sapphire cabochon. The octagon ridges are emphasized by finely engraved dashed lines. The ring shows signs of wear through age and is in good wearable condition.
Literature:
This ring belongs to the quintessential Gothic type known to nineteenth-century antiquarians as a “pie-dish” or “tart-mold” ring, named after the distinctive shape of its bezel. Popular from the twelfth to fourteenth century, such rings circulated widely across Europe, with examples known from England, France, Denmark, and Germany (Chadour 1994, vol. 1, no. 560). Their shape actually resembles more closely those of early Gothic architectonic capitals.
In medieval Europe, gemstone rings were highly prized, with stones typically set en cabochon, simply polished to preserve their natural form. Gemstones could carry special meaning for the wearer, for example as symbols of authority, expressions of love, or objects of magical and amuletic powers. Sapphires, with their blue color, were associated with the divine and were often worn by ecclesiastical dignitaries. A few comparable tart-mold rings are known from ecclesiastical contexts, including one found in the tomb of Bishop Ranulf Flambard of Durham (d. 1128), and another from Bremen Cathedral. The present ring may likewise have belonged to a member of the high clergy.
For the source and meaning of gems in the Middle Ages, see: Marian Campbell, Medieval Jewellery in Europe 1100-1500, London 2009, pp. 28-33, 72 and for sapphires Claude Lecouteux, A Lapidary of Sacred Stones, Rochester, Vermont 2012, pp. 283-286. For variants of tart-mold rings in museum collections, see Victoria and Albert Museum, London (Oman 1930, nos. 258–259); British Museum, London (Dalton 1912, nos. 1752, 1772–1773; Oman 1974, pl. 14A–B); Museum of London (Egan and Pritchard, Dress Accessories, c. 1150–c. 1450, London, 2002, pp. 325–327, fig. 1614); Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen (Lindahl 2003, nos. 96–97); Hanns-Ulrich Haedeke Collection (Haedeke 2000, no. 136); and the Hashimoto Collection, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo (Scarisbrick 2004, nos. 112, 114). See also Scarisbrick 1993, pp. 24–25.