Rose Theatre finger ring

Gold finger ring with the French inscription 'PENCES POVR MOYE DV'. The letters ‘DV’ stand for the Latin words ‘Deo Volente’ and the inscription translates as ‘Think of me God willing’. The ring is also decorated with a heart and two crossed arrows. The letters of the inscription are misaligned and are of differing sizes. Some letters are punched so hard into the metal that parts of them go all the way through. No exact parallel is known for this ring, though it may be of French origin. The ring was found during excavations of the Rose Theatre on Bankside. The Rose was built in 1587 and was one of four purpose-built playhouses on the south bank of the Thames in London (the others were the Globe, the Hope and the Swan). It was demolished in 1606. Archaeologists discovered the remains of the Rose in 1988. Reference: Bowsher, J. & Miller, P. (2009), 'The Rose and the Globe - playhouses of Shakespeare's Bankside, Southwark. Excavations 1988-90’, MOLA Monograph 48.