AN EXTREMELY RARE ANGLO SAXON GOLD RING

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An extremely rare Anglo Saxon ring Anglo Saxon jewellery rarely comes onto the market, as major finds like Sutton Hoo, or more recently the Staffordshire Hoard, are acquired by museums. Only occasionally does a garnet brooch, a gold bracteate or a hair ornament appear at auction, so to be able to offer for sale a mid 9th-century gold ring is indeed a rare occurrence. There are a number of Anglo Saxon rings known but only few are inscribed so for a new example to be offered for sale is most unusual.

Details

AN EXTREMELY RARE ANGLO SAXON GOLD RING
Of lobed quatrefoil design, each of the four panels decorated with a stylised creature, which from the top, appear to be a hare or rabbit, a bird of prey, a swan and a dog; at the centre there is a flowerhead with eight petals. The hoop with lettering reading CYNEFRID between two crosses and flanked by a stylised deer and a hare to each shoulder. The decoration and lettering would have stood out from the niello background (now mostly lost), mid-9th century, 23.2 by 19.0 mm

Provenance

The ring was part of a group lot of old coins, jewels and other items of precious and semi-precious metals purchased in Cambridge in the early 1980s

Special Notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Further Details

Christie's would like to thank Dr Elisabeth Okasha, Mrs Leslie Webster and Dr Brian Gilmour in the preparation of this catalogue entry.

Dr Elisabeth Okasha, College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences, School of English, Cork. Author of numerous publications including the Hand-list of Anglo-Saxon Non-Runic inscriptions (Cambridge, 1971)

Mrs Leslie Webster, Hon. President, Society for Medieval Archaeology, Hon. Professor, UCL Institute of Archaeology & Former Keeper, Department of Prehistory and Europe, British Museum

Dr Brian Gilmour, Research Laboratory for Archaeology, University of Oxford

Sale Room Notice

Please not this lot will require an EU export license if exported outside of the UK

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Angela Berden

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Lot Essay

Other known examples
According to Dr Elisabeth Okasha there are twenty-six other known inscribed rings dating from the Anglo Saxon period of which four are now lost. Most of these rings are made of precious metals and a small group of rings are of particular interest to the ring now being offered for sale.

1)A late Anglo Saxon ring with the inscription GARMUND MEC AH IM, found in Bodsham, Kent, 1968.
2)A late Anglo Saxon ring with the inscription AEDRED MEC AH EANRED MEC AGROF, found in Borrow Hill, Lancashire, 1753.
3)A late Anglo Saxon ring with the inscription AETHELWULF REX, found in a cart rut in Laverstock, Wiltshire, 1780.
4)A late Anglo Saxon ring with the inscription AETHELSWITH REGNA (Queen Ethelswith) found in Aberford, Yorkshire (acquired in 1897)

These examples date from the 9th century and are in the collection of the British Museum. All are gold and have niello work with the AETHELWULF and AETHELSWITH rings containing the most comparable decoration.

Inscriptions on Anglo Saxon rings
Single personal names on Anglo Saxon inscribed rings are thought to be the names of donors or owners of the ring. Dr Okasha thinks that a written text added status to an object that was already prestigious by the fact that it is made of gold.
The lettering on the ring now being offered for sale is complete and clear, CYNEFRID is written in Anglo Saxon capitals and each letter is approximately 3.0 mm high. This is a recorded spelling of the Anglo Saxon name Cynefrid; the second element 'frid' is sometimes spelt - frith (Th= ) and Cynefrith always occurs as a male name.

Analytical Survey
In five places a non destructive surface analytical technique was used to determine the composition of metal used in the ring. The ring consists of 92 gold, 6 silver and 2 copper (approx. 22 carat gold). The black particles in the petals showed up as having a higher silver content together with a similar proportion of lead to silver. This would confirm that the black material is indeed niello, in this case consisting of a mixture of approximately even proportions of silver and lead sulphite. The use of niello to enhance the appearance of the decoration on the ring is less common on gold than silver. Due to its composition, overall style and the fact that it bears a recorded Anglo-Saxon name, the ring can safely be ascribed to this period.

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