The Fulford ring is a medieval gold ring with emerald and ruby settings found by metal detectorist Paul Ibbotson in December 2016. It was acquired by the

Yorkshire Museum The Yorkshire Museum is a museum in York, England. It was opened in 1830, and has five permanent collections, covering biology, geology, archaeology, numismatics and astronomy. History The museum was founded by the Yorkshire Philosophical Soci ...

in 2019.

Description

The ring is complete and dates to the 15th Century AD. It has a ruby and an emerald set into the double-bezel and floriate, chip-carved decoration on each side of the band. The side decoration was originally filled with

niello Niello is a black mixture, usually of sulphur, copper, silver, and lead, used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal, especially silver. It is added as a powder or paste, then fired until it melts or at least softens, and flows or is push ...

. It measures 19.7 mm in length, 7.1 mm in width and has an internal diameter of 15.6 mm. It weighs 4.42 g.

X-ray fluorescence X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is the emission of characteristic "secondary" (or fluorescent) X-rays from a material that has been excited by being bombarded with high-energy X-rays or gamma rays. The phenomenon is widely used for elemental analysis ...

of the metal indicated that the ring had a surface composition of approximately 76–79% gold, 12–15% silver, the rest being copper (c. 8–10%).

Raman spectroscopy Raman spectroscopy () (named after physicist C. V. Raman) is a Spectroscopy, spectroscopic technique typically used to determine vibrational modes of molecules, although rotational and other low-frequency modes of systems may also be observed. Ra ...

was used to identify the gem stones. File:YORYM 2019 51-1.jpg File:YORYM 2019 51-30.jpg

Significance

The ring probably functioned as a love token or

betrothal An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

ring. Medieval lapidaries suggest that emeralds were associated with chastity and rubies with love and prevention of anger, which may have been important qualities in a medieval relationship.

Acquisition and display

The ring was bought by

York Museums Trust York Museums Trust (YMT) is the charity responsible for operating some key museums and galleries in York, England. The trust was founded in 2002 to run York's museums on behalf of the City of York Council. It has seen an increase in annual fo ...

in 2019 for £20,000 with funding from the Headley Museums Archaeological Acquisition Fund, the

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council o ...

/ V&A Purchase Grant Fund, and public donations. The ring first went on public display in the Yorkshire Museum in September 2019.

References

{{reflist 2016 in England Medieval European metalwork objects Metal detecting finds in England History of North Yorkshire Collection of the Yorkshire Museum Treasure troves in England 2016 archaeological discoveries Individual rings Archaeological discoveries in the United Kingdom