Oscar Wilde’s Friendship Ring
Remember the guy that’s called the Indiana Jones of the art world? Yeah, he’s making an appearance in this one. 17 years after the legendary ring disappeared from Oxford University, there were some developments.
The Theft
A little bit of background before we get into the actual crime. In 1876 Oscar Wilde was a student at Magdalen College at Oxford University where he met his two close friends Reginald Harding and William Ward. That year Wilde and Harding gave Ward a friendship ring in the shape of a belt with a buckle on the front with the inscription OFOWW (Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde) + RRH to WWW. So sweet 🙂
The college held onto the ring in the library after it was gifted to them as a memento of the literary icon having studied there. That is, until 2002.
On May 2, 2002, Eamonn Andrews, a cleaner at Magdalen College, was drinking whiskey at the college bar when an idea struck him. He walked to the college library and, using his knowledge of the building, entered through a skylight and smashed a display case to steal the friendship ring. He also took a Henley Royal Regatta Grand Challenge Cup medal from 1910 and a silver and bronze medal.
The police quickly found traces of blood at the scene which, when tested for DNA, lead investigators straight to Andrews. However, they were too late to save the ring which had been sold to a scrap dealer for £150 (keep in mind, at the time the ring was worth around £35,000).
Arthur Brand
Everyone thought that was it and the ring was gone. Until Arthur Brand (Indiana Jones) came into the picture in 2015. He was keeping his ear to the ground trying to find this item when he started hearing rumours that an unusual Victorian ring with a distinct buckle shape had appeared on London’s black market. This immediately piqued Brand’s interest.
He started poking around and hearing things from connections. He started working with William Veres, a London-based antiques dealer, and George Crump, knowledgeable about London crime circles, in order to see if these rumours are true or not. They sent someone out into the field to investigate and finally they were connected with the owner of the ring. “We were afraid that this person would panic and dispose of it or melt it down. They are not to blame, but if you are not to blame you better not get rid of it, because then you are to blame” (Boucher, 2019).
Thankfully the owner of the ring didn’t melt it down in a panic but happily handed it over to detectives and Brand and it was reinstated at Magdalen College at Oxford in December 2019 where I’m sure it’s kept under much more careful watch now.
Works Cited
Boucher, Brian. “The Art World’s Indiana Jones Tracked Down a Twice-Stolen Ring Once Owned by Oscar Wilde. He Tells Us How He Did It”. ArtNet. 2019. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/stolen-oscar-wilde-ring-1707597
“Cleaner Jailed for Wilde Ring Theft”. Oxford Mail. 2002. https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/6588429.cleaner-jailed-wilde-ring-theft/
Daley, Jason. “Art Detective Tracks Down Oscar Wilde’s Stolen Friendship Ring”. The Smithsonian Magazine. 2019. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/art-detective-tracks-down-oscar-wildes-stolen-friendship-ring-180973576/
“Oscar Wilde’s Stolen Friendship Ring Returns to Magdalen College”. BBC. 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-50659608