Of all the marriage-medals that have been struck none can be said to equal in beauty of design and tenderness of sentiment that designed in 1895 by the great French medallist Oscar Roty (1846–1911). The obverse shows the bridegroom about to place the wedding-ring on the bride’s hand, but in the very act of doing so, he is impelled to look upward, as though calling for Heaven’s blessing upon his marriage. The girlish bride has her head slightly bent down in token of assent. The scene is in the open country; the figures are seated opposite to one another on plain stone seats, and the landscape background is Rafaelesque in its delicate beauty. Beneath, in the exergue, is the single word “Semper,” an earnest that the solemn contract so gladly and so religiously entered into will be kept for this world and for the great future. The reverse shows a statue of Cupid on a fountain pedestal; alongside rises the trunk of a sturdy oak. On the right is ample space for a dedicatory inscription. The companion-piece, Roty’s second marriage medal, executed ten or more years later, although a noble work, falls something short of his first effort. Here the bridegroom, who displays no ring, kneels before the bride with uplifted head, the French motto reading “A Elle Toujours” (“Forever Hers”); on the reverse is a church altar. Under this is a plaque, enclosing which are roses, oak-leaves and acorns. [Illustration: MARRIAGE MEDALS BY THE GREAT FRENCH MEDALLIST, OSCAR ROTY (1846–1911) The upper medal shows the putting on of the wedding ring] [Illustration: BETROTHAL RING OF GOLD IN FORM OF SO-CALLED “PUZZLE RING” Six connecting hoops, three of them enameled, two others with clasped hands, and the sixth with a key and a winged angel’s head. Seventeenth Century. Albert Figdor Collection, Vienna] [Illustration: BETROTHAL RING OF GOLD Inscribed in Old French “_Il est dit_” and “_Elle me tien_” (literally “It is said (spoken)” and “She (or it) holds me”). French. Fifteenth Century. Albert Figdor Collection, Vienna] [Illustration: LOVE RING OF GOLD, ENAMELED AND SET WITH PRECIOUS STONES The bezel has a lid on which is enameled a head wearing a domino mask; it is framed by seventeen rubies. When the lid is raised there appears beneath an oval, enameled with a heart, around which is the motto: “_Pour vous seule_” (For you alone). The interior of the lid is hollowed out to serve as a receptacle for hair. On the ribbon-like hoop is the inscription: “_Sous le masque la vérité_” (Beneath the mask is truth). About 1800. Formerly belonged to the great Viennese tragic actress Charlotte Wolter.]