Jewellery, Watches, Silver and Objects of Vertu

A late Medieval sapphire set ring, 15th century, the rhomb-shaped table-cut sapphire within a six cusped setting between tapering shoulders with engraved detail of flowerheads, lilies and other foliate stems issuing from a crescent bowl or basket, ring size I. £4,000-£6,000

This ring was discovered by a metal detectorist at Tarrant Crawford in Dorset in 2019. It has been recorded on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database Ref: DEV-0AC761 and disclaimed as Treasure, Ref: 2019-T1020.

Sapphires have long been associated with the bishopric, due to their designation in Medieval Lapidaries as representative of heavenly virtue and fidelity. This ring also displays unusual floral decoration, including a lily. In Christian iconography the white lily symbolises chastity, and is therefore associated with the Virgin Mary; Medieval and later depictions of the Annunciation often show the Archangel Gabriel handing a white lily to the Virgin Mary.

The ring was found in Tarrant Crawford in Dorset, less than 200m from the Church of St Mary the Virgin. The church is all that remains of Tarrant Abbey, an immensely important and powerful Cistercian nunnery, founded in the 13th century by Ralph de Kahaines (of nearby Tarrant Keyneston) and destroyed during the Reformation.

The church comprises a flint chancel, dating from the 12th century, with the nave, tower and porch being built in the 14th century, and a 15th century bell tower. The church displays some 15th century stained glass as well as some important Medieval wall paintings, including a depiction of The Annunciation dating from the 14th century showing the winged figure of Gabriel and the Virgin. The interior also includes several coffin lids from the 13th century, which were moved from the Abbey; legend has it that these belong to Queen Joan, the wife of Alexander II of Scotland and daughter of King John of England (Richard I's brother and successor) allegedly buried in the graveyard in a golden coffin and to Bishop Richard Poore, builder of Salisbury Cathedral, who was baptised in the abbey church and later (in 1237) buried in the abbey, which he had founded. The actual internment of these bodies within the Church is disputed, but the association of these figures with the abbey give indication of its importance during the medieval period.