Where is the inscription engraved?

Classically on the inner face of the ring band. The outer face is usually plain - a simple gold band without ornament. The inscription is therefore visible only to the wearer, when putting the ring on and taking it off. This gesture of concealment is constitutive of the posy ring: the promise is private, not public.

Which mottoes are typical?

Short rhymed couplets or single-line sentences. Love mottoes: I like my choice, In thee my choice, Love is heaven, heaven is love. Mottoes of fidelity: Not two but one till life is done. Mourning and memento mori mottoes: Hodie mihi, cras tibi ("Today me, tomorrow you"), In memento, As we live, so dye. The mottoes derive from anthologies - so-called posy books listed hundreds of ready-formulated inscriptions from which patrons made their choice.

How does a posy ring differ from a mourning ring?

The posy ring is the generic historical form of the inscription ring. It may carry a meaning of love, friendship, betrothal, marriage or mourning - the motto defines the function. The mourning ring is a specialised form with a fixed mourning function and generally unambiguous mourning markers (black materials, an inscription with a date of death). Posy rings are older (from the late Middle Ages); mourning rings in the form known today emerge from the sixteenth century onwards.

Are posy rings still made today?

Yes, in a small but stable niche. Workshops in England, Scotland and the German-speaking countries make posy rings to commission - usually as a deliberately historicising gesture for a wedding or a partnership anniversary, or as a memorial ring after a death. The workshops often work with mottoes chosen by the client, or with quotations from the historical posy anthologies.

What does a historical posy ring cost?

On the collectors' market, simple gold bands with a legible inscription lie between €400 and €1,500. Pieces with especially rare mottoes, with documented provenance or from particularly early periods (15th/16th c.) fetch €2,000 to €6,000. The most important collections are held by the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Posy Ring

A posy ring is a gold ring, in use from the late Middle Ages into the eighteenth century, bearing an inscription engraved on its inner face - a relic in words, worn directly on the finger as a promise of love, friendship or remembrance.

Deutsch