Antique 16th Century Tudor The Totteshurst Coat of Arms Ring, Circa 1550

The Totteshurst signet ring c.1550

A gold signet ring with engraved arms of Totteshurst.

Lozengy Argent and Sable on a Fess Gules three Lions passant guardant Or

Unlike many rare surviving signet rings from the Tudor period which have been found by detectorists, this ring has a direct provenance back to the original owner Thomas Totteshurst of Chevening, Kent (1522-1560), a wealthy landowner married to Elizabeth Willoughby (1514-1580), the daughter of Sir Thomas Willoughby, Chief Justice of Common Pleas.

According to research from the College of Heralds in London, the arms were granted after 1530 and before 1619 to Thomas Totteshurst, he had no surviving male heirs and the arms were not recorded after 1619, though they would have been extinguished on his death in 1560.

Following down the line, Thomas’s daughter Elizabeth (1549-1587) married Richard Thomas of Brittens, Sevenoaks in 1566, the Totteshurst and Thomas arms were quartered. The Thomas shield being an indented chevron with two birds above and one below.  

The ring was passed down to Thomas's daughter Elizabeth Thomas and later through marriage into the MacCallum family (which later changed its name to Malcolm). Several of the armorial seals have the Thomas arms in the quartering.

The ring formed part of a collection of armorial seals from the remaining contents of Poltalloch House, Argyll, the former seat of the Lairds of the Clan Malcolm. Other armorial seals from the Malcolm family can be found on this site.

An exceptionally rare ring which has been in the same family for over 400 years.

Gold signet ring of lozenge shape with engraved coat of arms.

Goldsmiths mark I S is impressed on the reverse.

Excellent condition with very little wear.

20-22 carat gold

7.8 grams, UK size M