Historical high carat gold ring with tiny medallions representing the seven Ionian Islands. c.1820. A central shield is left uninscribed.
Very similar examples can be found in the British Museum and V and A collections.
Very fine condition. Size 8.  5.1grams
Ionian patriot jewellery became popular in the first half of the 19th century. The Ionian Islands had been under British protection since the Treaty of Paris in 1815, but from around 1830, after Greek independence, they began to press for union with Greece. A burgeoning attempt at independence in 1850 was suppressed with a brutality which  prompted Parliamentary discussion. The islands were finally ceded to Greece in 1862.
The seven islands and their symbols were listed by the Illustrated London News in 1851 :
Ithaca with  Ulysses and his dog Argos
Santa Maura ( Lefkada) with a lyre, as the death-place of Sappho
Cephalonia with Cephalus
Corfu with arms and emblems,
Zante (Zakynthos) with a tripod,
Cerigo (Kythira) with Venus emerging from a shell (the island was her supposed birthplace),
Paxos with a trident, as sacred to Neptune.