17th-18th century AD. An unusual gold ring with tubular hoop featuring two raised ribs between three bands of beading; calyx-shaped bezel decorated with flutes and pellets; discoid face enclosing a raised figural marriage scene composed of male and female facing bust pair, Christian cross between above, trefoil below. See Entwhistle, C., and Adams, N., Intelligible Beauty, Recent Research on Byzantine Jewellery, The British Museum, London, 2010, for comparable examples and discussion; see Ross M.C., Catalogue of the Byzantine and Early Mediaeval Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection, Washington, 2005, for discussion of Byzantine marriage rings. 8.42 grams, 29.73mm overall, 19.03mm internal diameter (approximate size British Q, USA 8, Europe 17.49, Japan 16) (1 1/4"). Property of a Suffolk gentleman; previously in a 1980s UK collection; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10235-163870.