{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O123229"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O123229/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2017JY7806/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2017JY7806/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2017JY7806","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JY7807","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JY7808","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JY7809","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KA7073","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O123229/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O123229","accessionNumber":"666-1871","objectType":"Ring","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Very large gilt bronze or copper rings set with glass or crystal bezels are often known as Papal rings. They are decorated with the arms of Popes or  Cardinals from the 15th century along with papal keys and tiaras and are usually distinguished by their great size and low intrinsic value. Their exact  function is unknown but it has been suggested that they were worn as credentials by mounted couriers between Popes and other church figures and  sovereigns. They served to prove the identity of the messager but were not of a value which would tempt thieves. \r\n\r\nThese rings were very popular with nineteenth century antiquarians and it is likely that out of the 100 plus surviving examples, some were made later to  satisfy the demands of collectors. \n\nThis ring forms part of a collection of over 600 rings and engraved gems from the collection of Edmund Waterton (1830-81). Waterton was one of the foremost ring collectors of the nineteenth century and was the author of several articles on rings, a book on English devotion to the Virgin Mary and an unfinished catalogue of his collection (the manuscript is now the National Art Library). Waterton was noted for his extravagance and financial troubles caused him to place his collection in pawn with the    London jeweller Robert Phillips. When he was unable to repay the loan, Phillips offered to sell the collection to the Museum and it was acquired in 1871. A small group of rings which Waterton had held back were acquired in 1899.\r\n\r\nEdmund Waterton used the fortune which was made by his family’s involvement in the British Guiana sugar plantations to put his collection together. His grandfather owned a plantation known as Walton Hall and his father, Charles Waterton, went to Guiana as a young man to help run La Jalousie and Fellowship, plantations which belonged to his uncles. When slavery was abolished in the British territories, Charles Waterton claimed £16283 6s 7d in government compensation and was recorded as having 300 enslaved people on the Walton Hall estate. \r\n","physicalDescription":"Gilt bronze Papal ring, the rectangular bezel set with a red foiled paste. The shoulders engraved with the crossed keys above the arms of Pope Pius II (1458-64) with <i>PAPA PIO</i> and the tiara and the symbols of the Four Evangelists are around the bezel","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"bronze","id":"AAT10957"},{"text":"paste gems","id":"x39242"}],"techniques":[{"text":"gilding","id":"AAT53789"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Gilt and engraved bronze set with a glass paste","categories":[{"text":"Jewellery","id":"THES48930"},{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2017JY7806","2017JY7807","2017JY7808","2017JY7809","2017KA7073"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"015","id":"THES407877"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Ring","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Italy","id":"x28927"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"mid 15th century","earliest":"1425-01-01","latest":"1475-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"5.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"3.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"inscribed  <i>PAPA PIO</i>","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"'Pope Pius'","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""},{"content":"Engraved coat of arms","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"the arms of Pope Pius II (1458-64)","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"ex Waterton Collection","historicalContext":"These types of rings are distinguished by their massive size and low intrinsic worth. It is believed they were used as credentials by mounted couriers. The size of the rings made it possible for them to be worn over riding gloves and the low value helped preserve their wearers from attacks by robbers on the road","briefDescription":"Gilt bronze Papal ring, the rectangular bezel set with a paste. The shoulders engraved with the crossed keys above the arms of Pope Pius II (1458-64) with <i>PAPA PIO</i> and the tiara and the symbols of the Four Evangelists are around the bezel, Italy, mid 15th century","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Oman, Charles, <u>Catalogue of rings in the Victoria and Albert Museum</u>, London, 1930, reprinted Ipswich, 1993, cat.924"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Waterton, Edmund <u>Dactyliotheca Watertoniana: a descriptive catalogue of the finger-rings in the collection of Mrs Waterton,</u> (manuscript, 1866,  now in National Art Library)"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"'British Guiana 2426 (Walton Hall)', Legacies of British Slave-ownership database, http://web.archive.org/web/20221205150942/http://wwwdepts-live.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/claim/view/7157"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<u>A catalogue of the antiquities and works of art exhibited at Ironmongers Hall  in the month of May 1861</u>, edited by George Russell French, London 1869, vol ii, p. 497"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"coats of arms","id":"AAT126352"},{"text":"keys (hardware)","id":"AAT33579"},{"text":"tiara (papal)","id":"x36261"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["666-1871"],"accessionNumberNum":"666","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1871,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LW9892"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-12-12","recordCreationDate":"2006-04-21","availableToBook":true}}