Silver gilt fede ring engraved with esoteric symbols

A large silver gilt fede ring engraved with esoteric symbols.

English, 15th century.

Ring size U 1/2 UK / 10.25 US / 63 EU.

Weighs 2.9 grams.

Provenance Gordon Bailey Collection; formed since 1968.

The ring is engraved to the front of the bezel with the ancient fede motif of two hands clasped together representing love and fidelity. The ring was likely a token of love symbolising everlasting devotion, or possibly a betrothal ring. The symbols engraved around the band were most likely believed to have magical or amuletic properties to protect the wearer.

The word Fede takes its name from the Italian word for faith or trust with the two clasped hands symbolising an attachment that usually led to marriage. The motif of the two clasped hands was already in use in ancient Rome, it was a symbol of pledging of vows, which derives from the Roman ‘dextarum iunctio’ (right hand joined). Fede rings remained popular throughout Europe until well into the 19th century with their peak of manufacture during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

The British Museum holds three comparable rings in its collection, registration numbers: AF.1120, AF.1118, AF.1117.