Order of Chaeronea ring found in Glandford auction room

The auction hammer has gone down to the sum of almost £4,000 on a silver quartz ring engraved with the secret symbols of the secret Order of Chaeronea. 

Known as one of the earliest movements for homosexual emancipation in Britain, the order was set up in 1893 by George Ives to promote what was referred to as "the cause". 

Its past members include George Ives and Lord Alfred Douglas, and experts also agree that Oscar Wilde was almost certainly an early member too.    

And now an iconic item described as “the ring of power” has been sold from the auction salesroom of Bishop and Miller in Glandford, near Holt. 

Author and gay history expert, Neil McKenna, 60, who lives locally, first became aware of the order during his eight years of research for his book The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde. 

He said: “I did a double take when I saw this ring in an auction catalogue. 

“This is an incredibly rare artifact and is the survivor of an idea that has now come to fruition. 

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“It is an icon which, although doesn’t hold monetary value, it represents a beacon of light in the timeline of gay history.” 

The ring bears the emblem of the Order and was listed as an Edward VII silver ring made in Chester 1905 by BH Joseph & Co with the hallmark of Barnet Henry. 

“It shows that even a decade on from Wilde’s arrest and imprisonment in 1895, Britain's nascent gay rights movement continued to exist despite being shrouded in secrecy and ritual," Mr McKenna added. 

"So much of our gay history has been hidden, or destroyed, or is the chilling bureaucratic paper trail of centuries of oppression and hatred. 

“So to find this gem is amazing and profoundly beautiful.”