the scourge, the spear, and various other objects, combine with
a representation of the Crucifixion, a small ruby being set in the
centre of the ring above the head of the Saviour. We engrave this most
interesting object of personal decoration as it appears to the eye, and
also the full design _in plano_; beneath it are the names and date
inscribed on the inside of the ring.

[Illustration: Fig. 155.]

CHAPTER III.

MODERN RINGS.

The period known as mediaeval commences with the fall of ancient Rome
under the Gothic invasion, and concludes with the capture of
Constantinople by the Turks in 1453. The modern era therefore commences
in the middle of the fifteenth century, during the reign of Henry VI.

As private wealth increased, finger-rings became much more ornamental;
to the art which the goldsmith and jeweller devoted to them, was added
that of the engraver and enameller. Fig. 156, from the Londesborough
collection, is decorated with floral ornament, engraved and filled with
green and red enamel colours. The effect on the gold is extremely
pleasing, having a certain quaint sumptuousness peculiarly its own. Fig.
157 is a fine specimen, from the same collection, of a signet-ring,
bearing "a merchant's mark" upon its face. These marks varied with every
owner, and were as peculiar to himself as is the modern autograph; they
were a combination of initials or letter-like devices, frequently
surmounted by a cross, or a conventional sign, believed to represent the
sails of a ship, in allusion to their trading vessels. The marks were
placed upon the bales of merchandize, and were constantly used where the
coat-armour or badge of persons entitled to bear arms would be placed.
The authority vested in such merchants' rings is curiously illustrated
in one of the historical plays on the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth,
written by Thomas Heywood, and to which he gave the quaint title, "If
you know not me, you know nobody." Sir Thomas Gresham, the great London
merchant, is one of the principal characters, and in a scene where he is
absent from home, and in sudden need of cash, he exclaims, "Here, John,
take this seal-ring; bid Timothy presently send me a hundred pound."
John takes the ring to the trusty Timothy, saying, "Here's his
seal-ring; I hope a sufficient warrant." To which Timothy replies, "Upon
so good security, John, I'll fit me to deliver it." Another merchant, in
the same play, is made to obtain his wants by sim