The art collectors descending on London for the Frieze Art Fair in October may take a break from all those large contemporary canvases at “Marvels in Miniature: The Jonest Collection of Rings,” a selling exhibition of 120 rings from throughout history, staged by the antique dealer S.J. Phillips.
“We have been researching these rings for about nearly two years,” said Sonia Butler, the company’s archivist. “And the more we learned, the more we were filled with wonder at how these tiny objects were tied to the big history and the small, personal history of their owners.” (Ms. Butler and Diana Scarisbrick, a jewelry historian, wrote the exhibition’s catalog.)
According to Nicolas Norton, a great-grandson of the company’s founder, Solomon Joel Phillips, the rings were collected by a father and son from Europe; they wish to be anonymous, but they are using the surname Jonest for marketing purposes. They bought most of the rings over 40 years ago but recently added a 17th-century ring with a candlestick motif in chalcedony that was found in 2021 in the English county of Derbyshire by a person using a metal detector.
The free public exhibition, which will commemorate S.J. Phillips’s 155th anniversary, is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 7-11 at its headquarters, at 26 Bruton St. in London’s Mayfair district.
Among the most significant pieces, Ms. Butler said, are wedding rings: a band from the second or third century made in a pierced openwork style called, in Latin, opus interrasile, and a Byzantine ring from the sixth or seventh century with the images of a cross, a married couple and the Greek word “[O]monoia” (in English, harmony).
The jewels with royal connections include a 17th-century swivel locket ring believed to commemorate the 1625 marriage of King Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France and an 18th-century piece set with a diamond-framed portrait thought to be of Princess Anne, the eldest daughter of King George II of Britain.
The exhibition’s highest asking price — 130,000 pounds, or $167,720 — is for a signet ring from the late 14th century to early 15th century that bears the badge of King Richard II of England and features a hart with its legs folded. It is the same motif seen in the Wilton Diptych, a painting of the era on permanent exhibition at the National Gallery in London.
Mr. Norton said that he hoped the influx of collectors for the Frieze Art Fair would attract buyers. “We meet clients during Frieze and have chats, but this is the first time we are organizing an event of this scale,” he said. “Collectors are in town to shop for contemporary art but might be tempted by something different.”
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