Ring Design in the Early 19th Century

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It’s the strangest jewels that come from the highest provenance that provoke the most conversation. With better provenance, the better the look into how life was in earlier times, particularly when jewels are concerned. 

Giving context into a jewel is understanding where it began in society. Society is governed by politics, economics, fashion, art and identity. With those elements aligning, communities can be constructed through commonality, consistency and conversation. All of these elements are constantly in a state of flux and are never static, so for the modern eye to look back upon these jewels, one must take into account a lot of what hasn’t been prescribed in a book. Research and insight take time, but, as can be seen with every element, an understanding of history is complex.

Complex is a nice way to describe the ring, which is the subject of this article. This ring comes from the Royal Collection UK and defies many of the conventions that one would consider normal for the early 19th century. Dating from c.1800-1820, the ring does actually have a lot of consistency with other jewels, but not on face value. Its appearance looks quite unconventional, but when looking through what was becoming popular in architecture and fashion, the commonalities can be seen.

Exemplified during the Regency period of 1811-1820, when George IV was Prince Regent, architecture adopted simpler geometric shapes. The Napoleonic Wars were to blame for the simplicity and elegance of the 1800-1815 period, as gold was scarce, building materials were highly taxed and imported timber was at a premium. The war effort took many of the national resources, but beauty and art never halt for any catastrophe. Palladianism, a symmetrical style based on Greco-Roman design, was inspired by the work of Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) and was a highly influential style in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Symmetry can be seen in buildings and monuments, with the popular ‘crescent’ style of housing being emblematic of the Regency period. 

While the Gothic Revival architecture style was being championed by Augustus Welby Northmore Putin, Neoclassicism was becoming more humble in its style, relying more on shape than embellishments. 

What is seen in architecture is often reflected in popular fashion and art. The ring seen in this article is based around shape and geometry. Oval, square, oval.

In the relation to popular styles, the relationship is clear. Experimentation in jewellery designs, particularly rings, during this period was taken to a high degree. There was no set construction style, as many jewellers had emigrated to England and bought their own independent styles. Gold was at a premium, so much of what was available was adulterated and used in fine wire to give the illusion of a high amount of gold being used. In this ring, the gold has a high level of zinc, giving it the rose colour. Its construction is basic, with the bezel being applied to the basic band with its obvious join, however, this is quite a remarkably modern statement in its style. This is contemporary with the ‘cigar shape’ bands that were popular of the time, as the bands were constructed and different bezels were applied.

Seen in this ring, the hair application is the same style, set within a circular, glass compartment, but it is surrounded by pearls. They are both related and both from the same era.

As there was no consistency in style, different geometric shapes were tested and tried until the oval style became the predominant one of its time. Here, the diamond shape cascades over the finger. Consistency in the use of hair is clear in all the pieces of this article, as is the use of shape. Where this piece differs is in the open shoulders, which show the use of less gold to look larger. With its eternity circles inside the open shoulders, it only enhances the sentimental properties of the ring, making it a very unique and beautiful statement for its time. 

The early 19th century was a challenging time for Europe and artisans made the most with what they had. Aesthetics in fashion, art and architecture will always adapt and as people had less, more interesting jewels were produced. 

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