Rings for the finger : $b from the earliest known times to the present, with full descriptions of the origin, early making, materials, the archæology, history, for affection, for love, for engagement, for wedding, commemorative, mourning, etc.Kunz, George Frederick
History
Rings for the finger : $b from the earliest known times to the present, with full descriptions of the origin, early making, materials, the archæology, history, for affection, for love, for engagement, for wedding, commemorative, mourning, etc.
Kunz, George Frederick
Rings; Rings -- Folklore
Proteus: Why then we’ll make exchange; here take you this.
(Giving a ring.)
Julia: And seal the bargain with a holy kiss.
In our own time, in Germany, two rings, one for the bride and the other
for the bridegroom, are given at the marriage ceremony, and these rings
are called “Trauringe,” a name which designates the ring as an emblem
of faith and trust, just as does the Italian name for the betrothal
ring, _fede_, or faith.
From the almost innumerable poesies inscribed upon espousal rings we
select a few of the more noteworthy. An antique Roman ring has the
words: “Pignus amoris habes” (Thou hast a pledge of love);[362] another
shows the simple form “Proteros Ugiæ” (Proteros to Ugia), the names
being inscribed between two clasped hands.[363] A sentiment given by
one who was no believer in unrequited love reads: “Love me, I will love
thee.” A massive gold ring of early date, found in 1823 at Thetford,
in Suffolk, gives us the following inscription in Old French: “Deus
me octroye de vous servir a gree com moun couer desire” (God grant me
to serve thee acceptably as my heart desires).[364] On a ring in the
collection of the late Sir John Evans we have the following graceful
inscription: “Je suis ici en lieu d’ami” (I am here in the place of a
friend).
An elaborate wedding-ring, probably executed in Germany, in the latter
half of the fifteenth century, is in the fine collection of the court
jeweler Koch, of Frankfort-on-the-Main. Out of richly ornamental
foliage work arise the figures of the wedded pair, evidently carefully
rendered portraits. Although somewhat lacking in purely artistic
harmony, this production of the ring-maker’s art is an excellent
illustration of the quality of the best German goldsmith work of the
time in the smaller objects.
The Figdor Collection in Vienna contains a fifteenth century betrothal
ring made in France. It is of gold and bears the inscriptions: “Il est
dit” (in small letters) and “ELLE ME TIENT” (in capitals),
literally: “It is said (spoken)” and “She holds me.” A betrothal ring
in the form of a so-called “Puzzle Ring,” has six connecting hoops.
Three of these are enameled, two others bear closed hands, and the last
shows a key and the head of a winged angel. This is of seventeenth
century workmanship.[365]
A wedding-ring of simple Gothic design formed part of a grave treasure,
the characteristic inscription: “In Mir Ist Treue” (In me is fidelity),
leaving no doubt as to the use to which the ring had been put. This
plain triangular band is in the Germanic Museum in Nuremberg and is
assigned to the thirteenth century. Another most interesting ring
from the same period was found in the territory formerly known as the
Fürstenbergerhof, at the southwest end of the city of Mainz; it is now
owned by the family Heerdt of that city. The clasped hands engraved on
the lower part of the hoop designate this clearly as a betrothal or
wedding-ring.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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