Cupid ring, TangleyThis late Roman gold finger-ring was found at Tangley, north of Andover, two years ago, by Ashley Duke. It qualified as ‘treasure’ under the definition of the Treasure Act and the Portable Antiquities Scheme oversaw its recordi

Cupid ring, Tangley
This late Roman gold finger-ring was found at Tangley, north of Andover, two years ago, by Ashley Duke. It qualified as ‘treasure’ under the definition of the Treasure Act and the Portable Antiquities Scheme oversaw its recording, valuation and publication (2014 T12).

This late Roman gold finger-ring was found at Tangley, north of Andover, two years ago, by Ashley Duke. It qualified as ‘treasure’ under the definition of the Treasure Act and the Portable Antiquities Scheme oversaw its recording, valuation and publication (2014 T12).


This late Roman gold finger-ring was found at Tangley, north of Andover, two years ago, by Ashley Duke. It qualified as ‘treasure’ under the definition of the Treasure Act and the Portable Antiquities Scheme oversaw its recording, valuation and publication (2014 T12).
It was acquired by the Hampshire Cultural Trust and the opportunity to display it coincided with the publication of the ring, firstly in an academic article in the journal Britannia, and secondly in a wide range of media outlets, as the beautifully cut intaglio, depicting a rather languid and impious looking Cupid, caught the imagination.
The nicolo intaglio (onyx with a blue surface and a dark heart) shows a winged, naked Cupid, leaning on a short spiral column. He holds aloft a flaming torch, which he will later use to burn Psyche in her guise as a butterfly.
Parallels for the ring are noted in the National Museum in Vienna, and closer to home, in one of the rings in the Silchester hoard.
Cupid ring, TangleyThis late Roman gold finger-ring was found at Tangley, north of  Andover, two years ago, by Ashley Duke.  It qualified as ‘treasure’ under the definition of the Treasure Act and the Portable Antiquities Scheme oversaw its recordi