Early 19th Century Grand Tour Lava Ring

This wonderful 9ct37.5% pure gold (or 375 parts pure gold and 625 parts other metals) gold lava ring would have ben sold in Naples to travellers on the Grand Tour as souvenir jewellery in the 1820’s after the discovery of the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum in the 18th century. Made by Pompeian stone cutters, each of the seven round heads of the ring is distinctly carved and is of a different hue as well as a different mythological figure and comes from a different organic material sourced from Vesuvius. The ring is in exceptionally good condition.

This ring cannot be sized.