A sapphire set gold ring brooch engraved with a fleur-de-lis.
Probably French, 14th century.
Diameter: 2cm
Weight: 6.14 grams
The Medieval gold brooch is set with six cabochon sapphires, the spaces in between are engraved with circles, diamonds and a fleur-de-lis.
Provenance: Private English Collection, assembled between the late 1970s and early 1990s.
In medieval jewellery, sapphires were revered not only for their beauty but for their rich symbolic and spiritual meaning. Associated with the heavens, they embodied divine wisdom, purity, and truth, often worn by clergy and royalty as signs of piety and authority. Believed to protect against envy, poison, and deceit, sapphires were also thought to reveal dishonesty by losing their brilliance, making them symbols of fidelity and integrity. Frequently gifted as tokens of loyal love, they were valued for their supposed healing properties, particularly for ailments of the eyes and mind.
In 14th-century jewellery, the fleur-de-lis symbolised a blend of royal allegiance, religious devotion, and noble identity. As the emblem of the French monarchy, it signified loyalty to the crown and noble lineage, while its association with the Virgin Mary evoked purity and spiritual grace. Common in courtly and devotional contexts, it also reflected chivalric ideals such as honour, fidelity, and moral virtue.
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