Jewelers Of Renaissance

(via 5000 Years of Gems and Jewelry) Frances Rogers and Alice Beard writes:

- Rings Of Romance And Sentiment
Betrothal rings, wedding rings, love rings, rings as token of friendship or of loyalty to some chosen hero, rings given wholesale in commemoration of an event such as a wedding or a funeral, individual mourning rings—rings no end.

It would seem that a ring more than any other form of jewelry must support the total weight of human emotions and stand by as emblem of joy, woe, and all the intervening shades of feeling that make up the sum of personal relations.

The custom of exchanging betrothal rings traces back to classical times. In ancient Rome the ring represented a pledge made by the father or guardian of the woman to the man destined to be her husband. He in turn pledged himself by the presentation of a ring to his bride-to-be. Such a contract appears not to have been unbreakable if the parties concerned changed their minds. But by the end of the Middle Ages, it would seem that betrothal and marriage had become so closely related that the wedding ring and the betrothal ring merged into one.

Among the Early Christian writings is a passage stating that a betrothal ring ‘is given by the espouser to the espoused either for a sign of mutual fidelity or still more to join their hearts by this pledge, and therefore the ring is placed on the fourth finger because a certain vein, it is said, flows thence to the heart.’

Since the thumb was counted as the first finger, doubtless the finger referred to was in fact the third. Nearly all medieval paintings which represent a wedding ceremony show the ring being placed on the right hand. A change of practice in placing the ring on the third finger of the left instead of the right hand first appears in the Book of Common Prayer of Edward VI (1549).

The ring as a symbol of marriage seems to be one of our permanent institutions, continuing through changes of fashion both in its outward form and in the ceremony of conferring it. Even when the English Puritans tried their best to do away with the wedding ring they failed to suppress it.

Fashion in wedding rings has been changeable, swinging from the simplest band of metal without any ornament to elaborately wrought designs or rings set with stones, then back again to the plain metal hoop.

As a marked instance of elaboration stands the Jewish wedding ring. Far too unwieldy for daily wear, it was used only during the wedding ceremony. In many of these heavy rings the bezel took the form of a gabled building, a synagogue or Solomon’s Temple; sometimes wrought in great detail with roof tiles of enamel and a couple of weather vanes that could revolve as practically as real weather vanes of normal size. The bands of these rings were also elaborately ornamented and often bore a Hebrew inscription meaning Good Luck.

Emblematic of love and friendship was the gimmel ring which consisted of two rings closely locked together, but capable of being separated so that two lovers or friends could each wear, in a sense, the same ring.

Another ring signifying a close bond was the fede ring, whose symbol of two clasped hands can be traced back to classical times and from then onward to the present day. Not infrequently the gimmel and the fede were combined, the double ring bearing the symbolic device of clasped hands, perhaps the better to denote a double quota of ardent devotion between the two parties concerned. There was nothing lukewarm about the Renaissance. Emotions were as spectacular and colorful as jewels and as readily displayed, unless there was some very good reason other than shyness for concealing them.

During the Middle Ages began a vogue for a type of love ring known as the ‘posy’ ring. The vogue grew in popularity, reaching its peak in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

The posy or poesy ring, while it might indicate the emotional bond between two lovers, was also handy for the expression of calmer sentiments. In either case the sentiment was usually conveyed in the form of a rhyme engraved on the ring band.

Here are some posy ring inscriptions:
- Let this present my good intent.
- Thy friend am I, and so will dye.
- If I think my wife is fair, what need other people care?
- My dearest Betty is good and pretty.
- I like, I love, as turtledove.
- This and the giver, are thine forever.

Supposedly the versified sentiment originated with the ‘giver’ and sometimes it did. But on the whole, jewelers could tell a different story. They had a store of ready-made rhymes which saved the purchaser a lot of trouble. By 1674, there was published a book entitled Love’s Garland, or Posies for Rings, Handkerchiefs, and Gloves, and such like pretty Tokens that Lovers send their Loves. That book finds an amusing parallel in the ready-made appropriate greetings and messages for all occasions recently provided by the telegraph company. Thought-saving devices have a perennial welcome.

Somewhat related to the custom of tying a string around your finger to make you remember something was the custom of giving rings to commemorate an event, joyous or woeful. The fashion of giving rings to wedding guests seems to have reached a high peak in Elizabeth’s time when Sir Edward Killey ‘is said to have presented four thousand pounds’ worth of gold rings at the marriage of one of his maid-servants.’ Even so, the giving of rings at weddings never became as widespread and excessively practised as did the bestowal of funeral rings. Since a certain sum was often set aside and directions given in the will of the deceased for the purchase commemorative rings, it is difficult to say whether the custom was inspired merely by fashion or by a pathetic longing to be remembered after death.

Although the practice of inscribing rings with the date of death of the deceased can be traced back to the Middle Ages, a distinctive type of mourning ring was not evolved until about the middle of the seventeenth century. Then there was no mistaking it. Inside the hoop was engraved the name and date of death; outside, it was decorated with a skeleton in gold on a black background; and the bezel was set with a crystal which covered either the representation of a skull or a lock of the deceased’s hair. Sometimes his initials were formed in gold thread on a ground of colored silk.

It appears that the ring is the Jack-of-all-trades among jewels—or at least that the jeweler has done his best to load it with responsibilities other than its nature as an ornament requires.

In the latter part of the Middle Ages education was still a luxury beyond reach of the masses. Many people could neither read nor write and the custom of using a signet ring was almost as necessary as it had been back in ancient Egypt. The usual type of gem ring was ‘stirrup-shape.’ Its engraved device might be some emblem or it might be a portrait of the owner. The merchant had his own special signet ring, a trademark with which to stamp his goods so that even though his customers might not be able to read they would have no difficulty in recognizing his distinctive seal.

The signet ring, still serving more than one purpose, was wont most conveniently to combine practical use and romantic sentiment. One famous example bears the letters H.M. in a monogram bound by a truelover’s knot. Inside the hoop is engraved HENRIL DARNLEY, 1655. Touched not alone with romance but with tragedy, is this signet-betrothal ring, for it is believed to be that given by the ill-fated Mary, Queen of Scots, to her future husband, Darnley.

Entirely fitting, practical, and dignified was the signet ring; but treading on the heels of dignity came numbers of contraptions—hybrid rings intended both for use and ornament and not making a very good job of either career. For this type of ring our modern colloquial term ‘gadget’ is aptly descriptive.

Jewelers Of Renaissance (continued)