{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O374197"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O374197/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BC2641/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BC2641/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006BC2641","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006BC2642","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KA6941","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O374197/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O374197","accessionNumber":"32-1894","objectType":"Ring","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This ring was described as a 16th-century Jewish wedding ring from Italy when it was acquired by the Museum in 1894.\r\n\r\nThe description of Jewish marriage or betrothal ring is often applied to elaborate rings with Hebrew inscriptions.  Their role is not entirely clear.  Jewish wives wore simple gold wedding rings but these rings seem to have been used symbolically and only during the marriage ceremony.  They are often too large and bulky to have been worn routinely.  \r\n\r\nThere has been much discussion about their age and origin.  In the 19th century, rings with gold filigree and enamel decoration like this one were universally assumed to be 16th-century Italian.  There is little or no evidence for this attribution, but there is no agreement on their true origin.  The use of the words ‘<i>mazal tov</i>’ suggest that it must be somewhere where the Ashkenazi rite was used.  Recent research suggests that they might have come from Transylvania, and that is reinforced, in the case of this specific ring, by the complex and very unusual construction of the wire border.  This type of twisted wire is also found on the 17th–century pendants, called <i>Heftels</i>, which were part of the traditional costume of Transylvanian Saxon women.\r\n","physicalDescription":"Gold band ring decorated with six filigree bosses separated from one another by raised motifs enamelled in white and turquoise with a quatrefoil in the centre.  There is a loop in the centre of each quatrefoil from which hangs a small ring of braided wire, and there is a band of complex twisted wire along each rim.  The ring is inscribed with the letters M and T in Hebrew, representing the words '<i>mazal tov</i>', inside the shank.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"gold","id":"AAT11021"}],"techniques":[{"text":"filigree","id":"x35885"},{"text":"enamelling","id":"AAT53773"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Gold decorated with filigree and turquoise and white enamel","categories":[{"text":"Jewellery","id":"THES48930"},{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"},{"text":"Judaism","id":"THES48929"},{"text":"Marriage","id":"THES48921"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2006BC2641","2006BC2642","2017KA6941"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"036","id":"THES410228"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Ring","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Transylvania","id":"x37439"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1650-1699","earliest":"1650-01-01","latest":"1699-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"טי מ","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"The letters 'M' and 'T' standing for 'Mazal Tov' meaning Good Fortune","transliteration":"Mem Tav","type":"","note":"Engraved on inside of shank"}],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":" Gold band ring decorated with six bosses of filigree work separated from one another by raised motifs enamelled in white and turquoise, Transylvania, 1650-1699.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Similar rings, usually with a stylised temple, are found in many collections, including the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum, and the Koch collection.  For an example, and a comprehensive list of references, see:\r\nChadour, Beatriz. 'Ringe. Die Alice und Louis Koch Sammlung', Leeds, 1994, fig. 1078\r\n"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["32-1894"],"accessionNumberNum":"32","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1894,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-05-21","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":true}}