Jane Austen Ring Export Blocked US singer Kelly Clarkson has been stopped from taking a ring that once belonged to Pride and Prejudice author Jane Austen out of the UK. The ring is one of only three surviving pieces of jewellery known to have belonged to the 19th Century author, having been left to her sister Cassandra and then passed down through the family before it was sold. American Idol winner Clarkson bought the gold and turquoise ring for more than £150,000 at auction last year and wanted to take it home to the US. But culture minister Ed Vaizey has put a temporary export bar on the ring, saying he hopes the money can be raised to keep in in the UK. "Jane Austen's modest lifestyle and her early death mean that objects associated with her of any kind are extremely rare," he said. So I hope that a UK buyer comes forward so this simple but elegant ring can be saved for the nation. Kelly Clarkson won the original American Idol in 2002 The Government has the power to temporarily halt the export of works judged to be national treasures. The decision on the export licence will be deferred until September 30 and can be extended to December 30 if proof emerges of "a serious intention to raise funds" to match its six-figure price tag. Austen, whose face will appear on £10 notes from 2017, wrote six full novels which cemented her place in the canon of English literature. The books, which are regularly adapted for television and film, continue to sell well almost 200 years after her death at the age of 41, in 1817. Clarkson, who grew up in Texas, has sold more than 20 million records since winning the US talent show in 2002. The 31-year-old has described herself as a "big history nerd" who had visited Derbyshire, where the 2005 film version of "Pride and Prejudice," starring Keira Knightley, was filmed. Last year, she told newspapers she had bought a first edition of Austen's novel Persuasion at auction.