{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O118807"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O118807/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BR2889/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BR2889/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2007BR2889","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2007BR2890","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O118807/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O118807","accessionNumber":"M.2-1959","objectType":"Ring","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Rings are the most commonly surviving medieval and Renaissance jewels. They were worn by both sexes, across all levels of society. Some portraits show wearers with multiple rings across all their fingers. Although rings were worn for decoration, they also had important practical functions. Signet rings were pressed into sealing wax to create a unique, legally recognised signature and wedding rings were a key part of forming a publicly acknowledged and official union. \n\nThe turquoise bezel of this ring is set with a finely cut gold monogram incorporated the letters FDA and a heart. This suggests that it was probably recording a marriage.  Many gemstones were believed to have particular protective or amuletic properties. The turquoise was said to protect the wearer from harm and to reflect the health of its wearer. Turquoise was also believed to restore harmony between husbands and wives. The Cambridge scholar Thomas Nicols's 1659 \"A Lapidary or History of Precious stones\" claimed that turquoise was not only a delight to the eye but strengthened the sight and renewed the bond between man and wife.","physicalDescription":"Gold ring, with an almost circular bezel, the face pierced and set with shaped turquoises, leaving a heart, scrolls and the initials 'FDA' reserved in metal","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Pierced gold set with shaped turquoises","categories":[{"text":"Jewellery","id":"THES48930"},{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"},{"text":"Europeana Fashion Project","id":"THES265804"},{"text":"Marriage","id":"THES48921"},{"text":"Romance","id":"THES253023"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2007BR2889","2007BR2890"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"91 (VA)","id":"THES49703"},"free":"","case":"1","shelf":"18","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Ring","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Germany","id":"x28873"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"mid 16th century","earliest":"1525-01-01","latest":"1575-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Dame Joan Evans","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"2.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"2.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"1.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'FDA'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"initials"}],"objectHistory":"This ring was formerly part of the collection of Dame Joan Evans (1893-1977), art historian and collector. Early on she collected gems and jewels which resulted in the 1921 book, English Jewellery from the 5th Century BC to 1800. She published widely on jewellery, French medieval art and architecture. Evans was elected the first woman president of the Society of Antiquaries in 1959 (through 1964).  She was a trustee of the British Museum (1963-67). In her personal life, she donated time and money to many charitable historic causes, nearly all of them anonymously. Her will left collections to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and the Birmingham City Art Gallery.\r\n\r\nShe gave her gem and jewellery collection to the Victoria and Albert Museum through a series of gifts, beginning in 1960. Her association with the museum went back to her childhood and she developed personal friendships with the museum curators and Directors. In 1975, two years before her death aged 84, Joan Evans made over her remaining jewels to the museum, choosing to remain anonymous during her lifetime. As she wrote jokingly to curator Charles Oman, her village was ‘divided into those who think it must have been me and those who say it cannot have been because I am so shabby.’ \r\n\r\n","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Gold ring, with an almost circular bezel, the face pierced and set with shaped turquoises, leaving a heart, scrolls and the initials 'FDA' reserved in metal, mid 16th century","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Church, Rachel, <u>Rings</u>, London, V&A Publishing/ Thames and Hudson, 2017, fig. 41, p. 38"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[{"text":"Evans, Joan Dame","id":"C4535"}],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"heart","id":"x38829"},{"text":"scrolls (motifs)","id":"AAT10094"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["M.2-1959"],"accessionNumberNum":"2","accessionNumberPrefix":"M","accessionYear":1959,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LP5710","2019LT5328","2019LW1203","2021MU9063"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-08","recordCreationDate":"2005-11-21","availableToBook":false}}