A MEDIEVAL SILVER RING DEPICTING A PENTAGRAM, CIRCA 14TH CENTURY

拍品描述

A MEDIEVAL SILVER RING DEPICTING A PENTAGRAM, CIRCA 14TH CENTURY A robust silver finger-ring of handsome, architectural presence, the hoop rising to a broad, almond-shaped bezel with crisply defined shoulders. The form is confidently proportioned, with a thickened, slightly tapering band that conveys both durability and status, its surfaces burnished by wear to a soft, satin sheen. The bezel is centred by a raised circular field engraved with a bold pentagram, its intersecting lines cut with deliberate assurance and framed by a ring of small, star-like punches. The composition is further emphasised by a recessed border, while the shoulders are enriched with radiating, fluted channels that draw the eye inward, creating a rhythmic play of light across the sculpted planes. The reverse is plain and smoothly finished, the hoop continuous and unbroken, allowing the ring to sit comfortably upon the finger. The heavy gauge and elevated bezel suggest an object intended for frequent use, worn not merely as ornament but as a visible sign of personal meaning and identity. In the medieval imagination, the pentagram held layered significance, widely understood as a potent protective device and a symbol of harmony, order, and the virtues. Such motifs appear across devotional and secular contexts alike, valued for their apotropaic power and their capacity to signal learned or esoteric sensibilities. A striking survival of late medieval personal adornment, uniting talismanic symbolism with the sober prestige of well-worked silver. Internal Diameter: 1.9 cm

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