Poesy Ring

There are over 60 finger rings in the Jamestown collection, but only 7 are made of gold. The artifact pictured is an extremely rare find on the site.

This ring is called a poesy ring, which refers to the poem-like lettering inscribed on the interior of the band. The letters read: “As endl- is my love”. The second word should be “endless,” but there is limited room on the small band and the jeweler may have shortened the word. There are no other markings on the interior band. The ring is broken and slightly bent out of shape, but if it was intact, it would measure 54mm in circumference, making it just smaller than a modern size 7 ring.

The clasped hands on the ring is a fede motif. Used as early as Roman times in wedding ceremonies, the clasped hands represent friendship, love, faith, loyalty, trust, and connection. The term fede likely came from the Italian phrase “mani in fede,” which translates to “hands clasped in faith.” Common in the 17th century, clasped hand rings have been found on other archaeological sites of the period, including in Virginia and in museum collections around the world. This ring may have been a wedding ring for someone living on Jamestown Island in the 17th century. We’ll probably never know who it belonged to, but this artifact still gives us a glimpse into life 400 years ago. Although much has changed since Jamestown was founded, it appears that love is something that will never fail to be significant to our humanity.

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