18K (750) gold ring, featuring two gold wire letters "RP" on - Lot 8

18K (750) gold ring, featuring two gold wire letters "RP" on a background of braided hair, set with a rose-cut rock crystal. Probably English, 17th century. Finger size: 52/53. Gross weight: 3.6g (chips, traces of enamel). Comparable rings are preserved in the British Museum and the Victorian and Albert Museum and are dated mid-17th-early-18th century. They appeared with the execution of King Charles I in 1649 to express support for the monarchy. These "Stuart crystals" were subsequently democratized, and were generally given to loved ones in memory of the deceased. Anna Beatriz Chadour, Rings, The Alice and Louis Koch Collection, Leeds 1994, p. 243. Ginny Redington Dawes and Olivia Collings, Georgian Jewellery 1714-1830, London 2010, p. 158