A ring-brooch of bronze, in the possession of Mr. Edwards, of Winchester, is inscribed with the words povert pert comt, poverty loses, or mars, respect[1]. In the curious collection of antiquities belonging to Mr. Whincopp, of Woodbridge, there is a silver ring-brooch, contrived ingeniously so as to remedy the inconvenience which attended the use of these fastenings, in drawing the tissue of the garment through a ring of small size. The ring was formed with an opening on one side, and the acus, which was not hinged, but moved freely to any part of the ring, having been with ease passed through the tissue, was brought through the opening between the volutes. It was then brought round until, the point resting against the ring, it was firmly secured, and the volutes prevented its slipping accidentally through the opening. The ring-brooch was an ornament worn by both sexes: it appears on the sepulchral effigy of Richard, Cœur de Lion, at Rouen, as well as on that of Berengaria his queen, at Le Mans: it served to gather up the fulness of the surcote on the breast of the knight, as shewn by one of the effigies in the Temple church, but usually was used to close the little opening on the neck, in the robes of either sex, termed the vent, or fente, which served to make the collar fit becomingly, as shewn by many effigies of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
A singular silver ring, of which a representation is here given, so as to shew the whole of the ornament developed, was brought for exhibition by Mr. Talbot. The interlaced plaited work seems to resemble some ornaments of an age as early as the Saxon period: but the ring is probably of a later date, and it is chiefly worthy of notice on account of the singular impress of the two feet, of which no explanation has been offered. It is probably to be regarded as one of the emblems of the Passion, or as a memorial of the pilgrimage to the Mount of Olives, where the print of the feet of the Saviour, which miraculously marked the scene of His Ascension, was visited by pilgrims with the greatest veneration.
- ↑ On a brass ring of the same period, discovered at Newark Priory, Surrey, and communicated by Dr. Bromet, are inscribed, in similar letters, the words POVERT PERT.
