Rings
These
are based on a ring found in the London museum book, Dress Accessories that date
them to the fourteenth century when they were highly fashionable.
This style of ring has been dated back to 1170 in the Viking period in
England, one might conclude that they had been in use in Norse regions longer
that these date would indicate.
I
was first inspired to make these rings when I was given one as a token for
stupid amounts of work performed. These were made by our Baron and Baroness of
the time, Stephen and Mathilde, who had been show how to make them by our then
King, Venumin, King of the West. The rest is obvious; I have made
literally hundreds and sell them to the most discerning of clientele.
All
stones used in my rings are real gems and are appropriate to pre 1600 history.
I have made some that are in specific colour combinations.
·
Byzantines:
Blue, green and purple. This was
the gem colour palette created by Emperor Justinian, and was used extensively in
the imperial court and sanctioned for manufacture by the imperial workshops.
·
Venetians:
The Venetians loved RED, they also loved gold, and pearls were a perennial
favourite. Sumptuary laws were put
into place determining who could own and wear pearls in an attempt to control
their use. ‘Pagar le Pompe’ was the phrase used to describe the fines
imposed for breeches of sumptuary laws. It
became such a common expression that it was found in dialect dictionaries.
Fines were paid so routinely that they were more like fees.
·
French:
anything that has blue and gold in it as these are their heraldic colours.
·
English:
While Pearls are perennial favourites across boarders, the English did appear to
have an indecent obsession with them.
· Spanish: All other colours of the spectrum.
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As can be seen in this
diagram from the
London museum book, 'Dress Accessories',
the wire is broken on the left, which may or may not have held beads.
While this is not noted in the finds, beads of varying degrees
were found in the same general location.
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All intellectual content, composition, layout, designs and photographs copyright 2007 to Deborah Lane © , 2003 to Deborah Murray © or Mistress Oonagh O'Neill ©. All Original renaissance art works and artefacts are not copyright to Deborah Lane, and are shown for educational use only. If you see something you'd really like to use, please contact me!
