An early/mid 18th century child's gold and enamel posy ring,...

Hammer

£600

An early/mid 18th century child's gold and enamel posy ring, a D-section hoop with two bands of dark blue enamel to the outside, inscribed to the inner face in italics "A frends' gift", stamped with a capital 'R' unidentified maker's mark, inner diameter 15 mm, weight 1.5 gms.
See lot 621, 23rd November 2018 Timeline Auctions, for a ring by the same maker.
See PAS GLO-82D866, this is a small gold finger ring with a D-shape cross-section hoop. The flat inside is engraved with the inscription 'A frends gift' followed by the makers mark R inside a shield.
This inscription is common on Post-Medieval artefacts. Recorded as early as 1596 (Evans, 1931: 16) it appears on in various forms on a number of rings listed by Evans, including a posy ring in the collection of the British Museum (1961,1202.128) dated by its maker's mark to 1696/97. It is also featured, in an identical script and spelling, on a heart-shaped locket also in the British Museum's collection (AF.138). The mark 'R' is identical to that found on a ring found in Horton, South Gloucestershire (2014 T701; GLO-5321BC; disclaimed under the Treasure Act) and this in turn is similar to a ring in the collection of the British Museum (AF.1342, dated from the 17th - 18th centuries) but is not listed in the standard reference books and so precise dating is impossible. However the style of the inscription - the double-barred vertical bar in the 'A' and the ear at the end of the 's' - is consistent with a late 17th or early 18th century date.
Provenance; found on private land outside of Thornton le Dale by a metal detectorist, it has been shown to the PAS of the British Museum who declared it to be later than 1720 and therefore did not need to be reported as treasure.
Thornton le Dale Grammar School was completed in 1670 from a bequest of Elizabeth, Vicountess Lumley, not far from where this ring was found