From Star – it was very exciting to find these articles about Jeanne d’Arc’s (Joan of Arc’s) Ring and we are including them here for your reference with credit and links to the source
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES – NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/joan-arc-ring-dating-back-15th-century-sale-london-auction-1535043
Joan of Arc ring dating back to 15th century for sale at London auction
December 27, 2015 17:53 GMT
An artist’s interpretation from 1485, as the only known direct portrait has not survived.
(Centre Historique des Archives Nationales, Paris)
A 15th-century item of jewellery believed to have belonged to French saint Joan of Arc will go under the hammer. The ring will be sold by Timeline Auctions in London in February.
Brett Hammond, chief executive of Timeline Auctions, said: “In my mind there is little doubt it’s her ring. To be a ring from the fifteenth century that fits her description perfectly – I think it’s too much of a coincidence. It’s a really interesting ring, we are privileged to be able to sell it,” he told Mail Online.
It was bought in 1914 by a keeper of the Royal Armouries from the painter Augustus John, who is said to have been given the ring by his lover, Lady Ottoline Morrell. Her family tree can be traced back to Cardinal Henry Beaufort, who was at the Catholic saint’s trial and execution.
Beaufort is believed to have given the ring to his nephew Henry VI, although how the cardinal acquired the ring is shrouded in mystery. It then passed down the family line to society hostess Morrell.
There is no absolute, conclusive proof that Joan of Arc owned the ring but its rare design very closely matches her own words describing the ring which were recorded at her trial. In testimony on 17 March 1431, during her trial in Rouen, Joan described the ring and was asked what it was made of.
“I do not truly know. If it was gold, it was not fine gold. I do not know whether it was gold or brass. And I think it had on it three crosses, and no other sign that I know except the words Jesus Maria”.
Medieval Joan of Arc devotional ring for sale with Timeline AuctionsTimeline Auctions
Joan was further questioned about the importance of this ring when she was going into battle to which she replied: “Out of pleasure and in honour of my father and my mother; and while having this ring on my hand and on my finger I had touched Saint Catherine when she appeared before me”. The French heroine was burned at the stake by the British when she was just 19-years-old in 1431.
Peter Clayton admitted it was difficult to value the ring but the antiquities expert said, “the French will go bananas” to purchase it, according to a Sunday Times report. He was confident that the connection between the ring and Saint Joan was “at least 70% OK – you can’t ask for much more than Joan describing it at her trial.”
The anonymous seller who lives in Italy, said his father purchased the ring for £175 at Sotheby’s in 1947. Timeline Auctions have put an estimate of up to £14,000 on the item but it could realise a much higher price.
NEXT ARTICLE: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35728604
FROM BBC NEWS
Joan of Arc ring returns to France after auction sale
- 4 March 2016
- A medieval ring said to have belonged to Joan of Arc, the French heroine who fought the English during the 15th Century, has returned to France after nearly 600 years in England.
- The ring was bought by the Puy du Fou foundation, which runs a historical theme park in France, at auction in London for $425,000 (£300,000).
- Joan gave it to an English cardinal before she was burned at the stake.
- The Puy foundation said the ring’s return to France was highly symbolic.
TIMELINE AUCTIONS: Her ring was sold for $425,000
The inscription reads “Jesus and Mary” TIMELINE AUCTIONS
The French heroine is thought to have handed the ring to England’s Cardinal Henry Beaufort on the eve of her execution in 1431.
It remained in England ever since, and there is thorough documentation to establish its provenance.
On Friday it was flown back to France.
Puy du Fou president Nicolas de Villiers told French TV it was a “glorious return” for a “French treasure”.
The foundation appealed to donors to help it bid enough for the ring, which will be officially unveiled this month.
The Puy du Fou foundation runs a historical theme park near Nantes in western France that attracts about two million visitors a year.
Who was Joan of Arc?
A teenage peasant girl-turned-war commander, Joan of Arc did her utmost to defeat English forces who had invaded France.
She advised the heir to the French throne and even led forces in war from 1429 until 1431, when she was captured.
The young heroine was then burned at the stake as a heretic and sorcerer by the English.
Battle for Joan of Arc’s legacy
Radio 4: The invention of Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc’s ring
Previous owner Robert Hasson tells Christopher Wren from Timeline Auctions about the ring
Made in about 1400, the silver gilt devotional ring bears the inscription ‘IHS’ and ‘MAR’ for Jesus and Mary.
It matches the description Joan gave at her trial of the ring given to her by her parents and its connection to Joan has been documented for more than a century.
The ring was offered for sale by the son of James Hasson, a French doctor who came to the UK with General de Gaulle in World War Two, Timeline Auctions said. The doctor himself had bought the ring at auction in 1947 for £175.
The auctioneer initially estimated its value at between £10,000 and £14,000 ($14,000 and $20,000) – but it sold for almost 30 times that amount.
