Circa 11th-12th century A.D. Comprising a flat-section hoop with a starburst motif to the base; openwork shoulders and a square bezel with a pellet to each corner, the bezel engraved with foliate motifs. Cf. ?urovi?, I., Medieval Jewelry from the collections of the Kragujevac National Museum, Kragujevac, 2012, fig.12, p.111, for similar ring. 3.65 grams, 19.99 mm overall, 18.00 mm internal diameter (approximate size British L, USA 5 3/4, Europe 11.24, Japan 10) (3/4 in.).

Acquired from London galleries during the 1990s. From the jewellery collection of a London, UK, gentleman.

Some rings from the Balkan territories of the Eastern Empire (for example the ring from Dobra?a) bear a square thickened bezel engraved with schematic representations. What sets them apart are the widened shoulders emphasised by a plastic rib and the raised and flattened head, which places them in the group of rings which dates mainly to the 11th century (from the end of the 10th to the first decades of the 12th century). [A video of this lot is available to view on Timeline Auctions Website]