Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu

A silver figural donkey ring, by Mosheh Oved, circa 1940s, the angular design of the donkey modelled with its head down, its long ears forming the top of the ring, the shank inset with later added sizing beads, unmarked, ring size I½. £600-£800

A Polish-Jewish immigrant, Mosheh Oved (1885-1958), also known by his anglicised name Edward Good, was a charismatic and talented jeweller, sculptor, poet and writer. He came to London around 1902 and trained as a watch maker. Initially he was based in Fetter Lane, Holborn, later moving to 1, New Oxford Street. In 1938 he become the owner of a celebrated Bloomsbury antique shop called Cameo Corner, in Museum Street, near the British Museum. By now, a world expert on cameos and a highly original jeweller, Oved was an eccentric character, often seen dressed in long flowing purple velvet robes, entertaining his customers (which included Queen Mary) with stories and anecdotes.
According to one story, whilst sheltering in the basement of Cameo Corner during the Blitz, Oved first began modelling his animal rings to steady his trembling hands. His first ring was a lamb, perhaps a symbol of the ultimate sacrificial lamb, made from the silver of Oved’s own cufflinks, after he learnt that a client’s son had been killed in action. Oved went on to make numerous anthropomorphic rings, mostly in silver, but some in gold, modelled as charming animals and birds and often displaying human characteristics.

The vendor of this ring recalls how as a young girl in the early 1950s, her father had given her money to buy a Christmas gift from Cameo Corner. She had chosen the little donkey ring and had kept it ever since.