4088 – Toad Stone Ring

Physical description:

Toad stone ring - A bronze ring with a toad stone (a dark opaque stone) in a simple claw setting. The bronze has a nice soft green patina.

Museum classification:

Herbs and Healing

Size:

Approx 17mm diam.

Information:

Toad stone rings are one of the most common kinds of magic ring.

This is quite an early example, 'Viking Age' (700 -1100 CE) according to the seller. (However, objects like this are difficult to date, and another expert has dated it much later, to the Early Modern period.) The stone is a good example, opaque with a matt surface, and a warm dark colour. The setting is rather unusual - most settings are intended to minimise obscuring the stone, and in this period stones were generally set in an unobtrusive bezel setting. In this case, however, the four large and prominent 'claws' of the setting emphasise the stone in an elegant way that underlines its magical properties. It is quite possible that they also have a magical significance themselves - perhaps they are intended to contain and focus the stone's energies.

Toad stones are in fact fossilised teeth from a prehistoric fish; but they were believed to come from inside the head of a toad. They are usually a dark greenish brown colour suggesting the skin of a toad.

They were thought to have a variety of healing and amuletic properties. One in the Pitt Rivers Museum (not set in a ring), from Puddington in Devon, was used to treat illnesses such as seizures. They were usually set in rings, and most famously were believed to alert the wearer to the presence of poison (see, for example, Roger Fenton's book 'Certaine Secrete Wonders of Nature', 1569). In his book 'A Thousand Notable Things' (1627) Thomas Lupton describes how they were used to treat poisonous bites and stings from creatures such as wasps, spiders and even rats. They were also used to treat kidney problems (see Johannes de Cuba, 'Hortus Sanitatis' ('Garden of Health'), 1498) - perhaps because the toad stone was thought to be similar to a kidney stone.

They were also used as amulets for general good fortune and protection (also mentioned by Johannes de Cuba).

The British Museum and the V & A have several examples from the Late Medieval and Early Modern periods. A rather fancy Georgian brooch, c.1800, with pearls around the toad stone, has appeared on a specialist jeweller's website.

 

 

 

 

Resource:

Object

Materials:

Bronze, Stone (fossil)

Copyright ownership:

MWM

Toad stone rings are one of the most common kinds of magic ring.

This is quite an early example, 'Viking Age' (700 -1100 CE) according to the seller. (However, objects like this are difficult to date, and another expert has dated it much later, to the Early Modern period.) The stone is a good example, opaque with a matt surface, and a warm dark colour. The setting is rather unusual - most settings are intended to minimise obscuring the stone, and in this period stones were generally set in an unobtrusive bezel setting. In this case, however, the four large and prominent 'claws' of the setting emphasise the stone in an elegant way that underlines its magical properties. It is quite possible that they also have a magical significance themselves - perhaps they are intended to contain and focus the stone's energies.

Toad stones are in fact fossilised teeth from a prehistoric fish; but they were believed to come from inside the head of a toad. They are usually a dark greenish brown colour suggesting the skin of a toad.

They were thought to have a variety of healing and amuletic properties. One in the Pitt Rivers Museum (not set in a ring), from Puddington in Devon, was used to treat illnesses such as seizures. They were usually set in rings, and most famously were believed to alert the wearer to the presence of poison (see, for example, Roger Fenton's book 'Certaine Secrete Wonders of Nature', 1569). In his book 'A Thousand Notable Things' (1627) Thomas Lupton describes how they were used to treat poisonous bites and stings from creatures such as wasps, spiders and even rats. They were also used to treat kidney problems (see Johannes de Cuba, 'Hortus Sanitatis' ('Garden of Health'), 1498) - perhaps because the toad stone was thought to be similar to a kidney stone.

They were also used as amulets for general good fortune and protection (also mentioned by Johannes de Cuba).

The British Museum and the V & A have several examples from the Late Medieval and Early Modern periods. A rather fancy Georgian brooch, c.1800, with pearls around the toad stone, has appeared on a specialist jeweller's website.