Chivalry wasn't dead in England at the beginning of the 20th century. Even though the modern world was surging forward (with the first mechanized war on the horizon), the imagination of the time was still obsessed with the banners, knights, and maidens of the Middle Ages. Publishers reissued Morte d'Arthur for new readers, the old Merlin romances were made cheap and accessible through the Everyman's Library, and Tennyson's Idylls of the King was the book you turned to for honor and heartbreak played out on the battlefield of Camelot.
Artists picked up on the Medieval vibe. The Pre-Raphaelites had spent decades painting knights and tragic princesses: this imagery lingered in the Edwardian imagination. William Morris decorated homes with patterns drawn from medieval manuscripts, and stained-glass windows glowed with shields and saints. The pageantry of coronations had kings holding scepters and wearing ermine-trimmed robes like Ye Olde Days.
It's in that climate that this 1907 Chester-marked signet ring was made. On a shield-shaped face, a lion rampant supports an English flag. In heraldic tradition, this beast's standing posture (rising on hind legs with forepaws extended) signals readiness for battle and vigilance in defense of one's honor. Within a few years the First World War would test these ideals. Cavalry still rode on horseback beneath their regimental standards, even as machine guns and trenches rendered these charges tragically outdated. Hopefully the the original owner of this ring wasn't among those young men.
MATERIALS: 18k gold (marked)
AGE: Chester assay marks for 1907
CONDITION: Very good - minor surface wear commensurate with age and use
SIZE: 6.5, can be resized; 1/2" head, 1/8" shank