Footnotes

• The work of British artist, goldsmith and musician Kevin Coates (b.1955) may be found in private and public collections worldwide, including The V&A, the British Museum, the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in London and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Sir Roy Strong praises his work for its "complexity, astonishing technical virtuosity, sophistication of allusion and unashamed richness".
  
  The fairytale of The Princess and the Frog inspired the design of this ring. In the well known fable, a spoiled princess plays by a pool and carelessly drops her golden ball into its depths. To stop her crying a frog dives in and rescues it on condition she takes him to live with her in the palace where he might share her meals and sleep on her pillow. Only after she "remembers her promise" to the seemingly distasteful amphibian is an evil spell broken and the frog transformed into a handsome prince. This ring is illustrated and described in "Kevin Coates, A Hidden Alchemy. Goldsmithing: Jewels and Table-Pieces", Stuttgart, 2008, No 389.