These mottoes, or "reasons," as they were sometimes termed, were occasionally engraved in relief. Fig. 147 represents a specimen from the Londesborough collection. It is of gold, and was found in the Thames. The inscription upon it is--=sans bilinie=--"without baseness,"--a motto that may have been adopted by some Bayard of the Middle Ages.
A very early ring, with an unusual pretty poesy, is in the collection of J. Evans, Esq., F.S.A., and is engraved (Fig. 148). It is of gold, set with a small sapphire, and is inscribed--IE. SVI ICI EN LI'V D'AMI--["I am here in place of a friend]." It was probably made at the beginning of the fourteenth century. Fig. 149 is chased with the Nortons' motto, "God us ayde;" and Fig. 150 is inscribed withinside with the sentence, "Mulier, viro subjecta esto." Both are works of the fifteenth century.
In Bromsgrove Church, Staffordshire, are the fine monumental effigies of Sir Humphrey Stafford and his wife (1450), remarkable alike for the rich armour of the knight and the courtly costume of the lady. She wears a profusion of rings, every finger, except the little finger of the right hand, being furnished with one. They exhibit great variety of design, and are valuable as exponents of the fashion of that day. We engrave in Fig. 151 the hands of the lady, as uplifted in prayer, with four of the rings, the full size of the originals.
Recurring to the ancient people whose sacred records gave us the earliest knowledge of the use of rings, we may profitably devote some attention to the very beautiful rings, formerly used by the Hebrews for betrothals and weddings. The Londesborough collection furnishes us with the two fine examples engraved in Figs. 152 and 153. They are often termed "tower rings," from the figure of the sacred temple placed on their summit. In the first specimen it takes the form of a sexagonal building, with a domed roof of an Eastern character; in the second it is square, with a deeply pitched roof, having movable vanes at the angles, and is probably the work of some German goldsmith. Upon the roof of the first is inscribed in enamelled letters the best wish--"joy be with you"--that a newly-married couple would command. The same words are inscribed in more richly-designed letters on the curve of the second ring. Both are of gold, richly chased, enamelled, and enriched by filigree work, and are sufficiently stately for the most imposing ceremonial.