Bishop's Ring

Description This elaborate bishop's ring has the typical combination of a gold setting with a single, large stone, in this case malachite. The gold is decorated with openwork eagles, animal heads, and floral elements. The malachite is probably meant to resemble "toadstone," a green stone said to be found on the head of a toad and believed to have healing qualities. These rings had to be large as bishops normally wore them over gloves on the third finger of the right hand.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
12/12/1978	Examination	examined for condition

Exhibitions

• Exhibition of Gold. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland. 1947-1948.
• The Medieval Craftsman and His Modern Counterpart. Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington; Newcomb Art Gallery, Tulane University, New Orleans. 1959.
• World of Wonder. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1971-1972.
• Jewelry - Ancient to Modern. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1979-1980.
• Bedazzled: 5,000 Years of Jewelry from the Walters Art Museum. Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2006-2009.
• Bedazzled: 5,000 Years of Jewelry. El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso. 2010.

Provenance Sale, Joseph Brummer, New York; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1927, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions [Transcription] AVE MARIA GR/ATIA PLENA D/; [Translation] Hail Mary full of grace.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1927