RINGS OF THE DEAD AGES

Northern Advocate, 8 January 1938, Page 8

RINGS OF THE DEAD AGES

Rings that gleamed on the slender henna-tinted fingers of Pharoah's daughters, massive signets that graced the hands of mediaeval princes—rings of every size, shape, typo and period —were on sale at Sotheby’s last month. They were collected by the late Monsieur E. Guilhou, of Paris—nearly 2,000 of them.

Here are rings of white or black glass, ivory, lapis, silver; bronze rings from Mycenae, cradle of the Greek culture, 3,000 years old; iron swivel rings, pale gold rings of the Phoenician and Eltruscan eras.

Religion and History. To browse among this collection is to read not only history but religion. Figures of Hathor and ,Isis are raised on Egyptian rings; Fortuna-Isis, one of the blended d.gities of East and West, on an early Greek ring. There are key-rings which swung on the fingers of Roman matrons and from which depended the keys that opened their jewel cases. There are cameo rings from Corinth. There is even a child’s ring. There are rings to fit on two fingers at once; rings bearing the heraldic devices of gay French lords: rings massive with Byzantine gold.

The Murdered Duke. Perhaps the most notable of all is the ring called the “Jean Sans Peur,” showing the portrait in white stone of the Burgundian Duke murdered in 1419. His cap is fashioned in jet, his green coat in emeralds. One of the treasures of the collection is the group of Merovingian (eighth century) and Carolingian (ninth century) rings; another, the octagonal Byzantine ring that was the marriage ring of Petros and Theodote; a third, the “fedc” ring—formed of two clasped hands—given to celebrate a betrothal.