358 (19)

331

FingerRings

glass pastę is known from this period; the method of assembly of the ring, however, does not differ significantly from that of the other brass rings in the present corpus and it cannot be assumed to be a piece of Continental workmanship.

As one might expect, lead/tin solders were used on the brass finger rings to secure the hoops to the bezels. A similar solder was also used for the glass cameo, it being a method of fusing glass to metal that could be safely employed, whereas gemstones, which are prone to fracture when heated, were secured with a calcium carbonate cement similar to that used for fbring glass inside metal mirror-cases (see nos. 1708, 1710 & 1712).

Wire finger rings

1622 BWB83 acc. no. 2375 (context 290) ceramic phase 9 fig 217

Brass (AML); continuous length of thin wire wound round five times; extemal d 18mm; intemal d 15mm.

Wire jewellery came back into vogue in England during the 14th century coinciding with the in-creased output of drawn wire (see brooches nos. 1339-41). Finger rings were madę from wire with a narrow gauge in contrast to the chunky finger rings madę from plaited and twisted wire that are common in the Viking period and which occur in England as late as the 1170s on the evidence of a ring in the Lark Hill hoard (Akerman 1855, 201, pl XVII, no. 6; Stratford, 1984, 293. no. 320d). A finger ring madę from a short length of brass wire coiled round five times was recovered from a late 13th- or early 14th-century deposit (ceramic phase 9) in London (no. 1622, fig 217). Both ends were twisted under and over the previous coils to bind them together and to add a decorative finish. Although this was an extremely simple method by

1622