Lot 156
156
A LATE ROMAN GOLD FINGER RING
A LATE ROMAN GOLD FINGER RING

CIRCA 4TH CENTURY A.D.

Details
A LATE ROMAN GOLD FINGER RING
circa 4th century a.d.
The hammered hoop square in section, with expanding, rounded shoulders and flat underbezel, the bezel set with an oval sheet with repouss clasped right hands or dextrarum iunctio, with a dotted border, framed by a banked sheet oval with filigree beaded wire below the raised outer edge
size 6

Lot Essay

The motif of clasped right hands was popular during the late Roman period. Such rings are usually considered to be love-tokens or marriage rings, symbolizing the idea of friendship, agreement or contract. For similar examples see fig. 3.25 in Johns, The Jewellery of Roman Britain.