Ring

In the Middle Ages, both in Vilnius and throughout the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, various types of rings were worn, including rings with a wider front part decorated with ornaments or marks, known as incisions.

During archaeological excavations at the Lower Castle in Vilnius, a ring was found with a widened oval-shaped front part featuring an irregularly shaped star in the center, and on both sides as well as the upper part – two incisions each (at the bottom, three incisions merge into one). The band near the front part is also decorated with incisions. Such rings are sometimes referred to by some researchers as signet rings. By definition, a signet (from Latin signetum (signo) – mark, seal) is a ring with a coat of arms or other sign used for sealing.

In historical sources from the 16th–17th centuries, signet rings were recorded as signetai (сыгнет, сыкнет, signet, sigknet), indicating they were worn on the finger, while seals (objects with handles and a base for stamping) were referred to as печать. However, the term “signet” was sometimes used as a synonym for “seal,” which causes some confusion.

 

Determining from a document’s seal whether it was stamped by a seal or a ring is sometimes difficult because their size and shape are similar. Records of documents sealed by signet rings are fragmentary, but Dr. Mindaugas Klovas, who studied private documents from the late 14th to early 16th centuries, notes that only one mention exists of a signet ring seal (from 1529) on a document (a will).

Signets and seals were produced and engraved in Vilnius as well. The 1495 record establishing the goldsmiths’ guild notes that to become a goldsmith, one had to present a cup, a seal, and a ring with a gemstone. Later historical sources mention goldsmiths who engraved seals — Balka (1541) and Lukas Jonavičius (1553), who worked in Vilnius, as well as Jonas Dyla, who engraved seals and signets for the Grand Duchy of Lithuania’s chancellor Leonas Sapiega in 1591, among others. Gabriel Jonas Frydrich, who came to Vilnius in 1710, also produced signets among other items.

 

Undoubtedly, signet rings include surviving items such as the golden ring of Stephen Báthory with a sapphire (16th century), the golden ring of Konstancija Pranciška Radvilaitė-Sapiegienė with a carnelian (18th century), and the ring of Vilnius suffragan Mikalojus Bikovskis (18th century).

Archaeological excavations in Vilnius and other cities, as well as peripheral cemeteries, have uncovered rings dating from the 14th to 17th centuries (mostly from the 16th–17th centuries) with wider front parts decorated with ornaments: engraved lines (incisions) that either form no specific system or resemble a symbol (star). There are also simple geometric ornaments (symmetrical or asymmetrical), resembling stylized letters or signs (R, S, A, K). These rings are simple in design, made from base metals, and are suitable for sealing — as proven by research. But who used these rings for sealing, and what did the marks mean? It is debated whether the makers or the commissioners of these marks assigned meaning to them, as many rings with similar or even identical motifs have been found across a wide region. In burial monuments, one grave might contain from one to several such rings, sometimes 4–6 with different motifs. So, if several rings are found in one grave, what was their function — aesthetic or identificatory? And in the absence of coats of arms, initials, and other elements, is it appropriate to call these rings signet rings? It is argued that a better term would be “imitation signet rings.”

 

Dr. Tomas Čelkis studied non-noble marks in 15th–16th-century Grand Duchy of Lithuania sources and linked them with personal property (used to mark woods, land boundaries, animals, etc.). He published the earliest recorded pictorial ornaments — 29 peasants’ marks drawn in a 1542 document listing honey and monetary tributes. These marks might have been used to mark wood trees and bear similarities to 14th–17th-century ring marks. Another example is a 1594 document “signed” with participants’ drawn marks.

 

Seals in documents from 1611 in Piepališkės and Minsk voivodeships with several crossed lines resemble marks on archaeological ring finds. Dr. Edmundas Rimša calls these imitation marks. However, a 1608 land exchange act from Germanovičiai contains 24 seals with swastika motifs and initials S K, S I. Archaeological finds include rings with swastika motifs but without initials (also found in Vilnius).

 

According to research by Dr. Aivo Ragauskas, townspeople used personal marks — gmerkai — consisting of lines, plant or zoomorphic motifs, items related to profession, initials, and sometimes rank. According to him, gmerkai were used “as personal marks on documents, as confirmation with or without a signature in various trade transactions, for marking buildings and goods, and even on tombstones. It should be noted that distinguishing them from coats of arms is difficult because in the 16th–17th centuries it was common to stylize gmerkai to resemble symbols used in coats of arms.” Gmerkai were also engraved on rings.

 

Some marks on old collections and archaeological finds (16th–17th-century spoons and others) are personal owner’s marks (some clearly heraldic with initials). On precious metal items, there are sometimes marks of the master (goldsmith) and others. On other items (14th–17th-century ceramic and wooden vessels, barrels, knives, scissors, axes, bricks, pipes, etc.), marks are interpreted as makers’ marks, some related to trade, customs, or quality control.

 

Rings and other jewelry, as well as seals, can be seen at the Museum.