Keepers of the Rings - Totnes Museum

By: Richard Wyatt
Added: 17 November 2011

One of the tiniest and, historically, most valuable of Totnes town treasures finally met its twin at the V&A in London this week. The Lee Rings were re-united in front of  our Devon delegation and three curators from the Victoria and Albert Museum - home to the world's largest collection of decorative arts and design.

If you've been following the story you will know we had been trying to discover what had happened to the other ring. The pair had been presented to the daughters of a rich local merchant called Richard Lee in around 1640.  It was a 'thank you' from the Corporation, as the girl's father had paid for the erection of a covered area in the town in which merchants could do their business. We believe the daughters were called Katherine and Christian. One ring has been on display at the Totnes Elizabethan House Museum since 1962. It turned out the other had been at the V&A since 1968. The London Museum is hoping to discover who made the rings. We may never know why they were presented nearly 30 year's after Richard Lee's death.

It is rare for gold and painted enamel rings of this period to bear the initial of a corporate body like 'Totnes'. Initials are usually just the names of recipients or ring givers. It is hoped the V&A may give permission for their ring to come to Totnes on loan next year.