The Battle For Jane Austen's Ring

     At an auction in England last year, this ring once owned by author Jane Austen was sold to an anonymous buyer for about $230,000.  The ring is one of only three pieces of Austen's jewelry known to exist.

     It turns out that the ring's buyer was none other than American singer Kelly Clarkson.  An avid Austen fan, Clarkson owns a first edition of Persuasion, the author's last completed novel.  

     The ring may remain out of her grasp, however.  The UK doesn't want to let the culturally and historically important ring leave British territory.  On August 1, the country’s cultural minister categorized the gold-and-turquoise ring as a national treasure, and put a temporary ban on the export of the ring in the hopes that money could be raised to keep it in the UK’s Jane Austen’s House museum. Clarkson agreed to sell the ring should a buyer come forward.      

     Now, an anonymous donor has given £ 100,000 pounds (close to $150,000 U.S.) to the museum to help them achieve that goal. The museum must meet the auction price—and has until December to raise the remaining funds.


     The museum has very few of Austen's effects, so the ring is very unusual.  The ring is accompanied by a note from 1863 handwritten by Eleanor Jackson, second wife of Jane's brother Henry Austen.  The note gives the ring to a niece, saying, "this was given to me by Cassandra (Jane's sister) when she knew I was marrying Henry and it belonged to aunt Jane."


     The museum has invited Clarkson to visit the collection in Hampshire – perhaps the closest she will get to the ring, if the campaign raises the remaining funds that it needs to match Clarkson's bid.