Silver posy fede ring with billing doves and a heart. German, 18th century

A silver posy fede ring with billing doves and a heart.

German, second half of the 18th century.

Ring size Y UK/ 12 US.

The height of the bezel is 1.7cm.

There is a posy inscription to the inside, written in German and abbreviated, it is believed to read ‘With my heart’.

Two kissing love birds perch upon the lovers hands clutching a heart. The two clasped hands symbolise an attachment that usually led to marriage. It was a symbol of pledging of vows. Rings decorated with the image of two clasped hands was already in use in ancient Rome.

For a similar example see: A. B. Chadour, Rings. The Alice and Louis Koch collection, Leeds, 1994, vol. 1, no. 860.

An example of a billing dove ring can be found in the collection of; The British Museum, reference number. 1978,1002.213, Gold finger-ring set with a small ruby, enamelled in white and translucent green with touches of red, with a pair of billing doves.