hoop in two parts, working like a gimmal, and three interior hoops
which are almost concealed when the ring is closed. The exterior hoop
is chased; on the inner surfaces, concealed from view when the ring is
closed, appears in sections the following inscription in black enamel:
Verbo Dei celi firmati sunt. Dixit et creata sunt, ipse mandavit et
creata sunt. (The heavens are founded in the word of God. He spoke and
they were created; he commanded and they were created.) After “firmati
sunt,” is the date 1555. The three interior hoops bear, enameled in
black, the signs of the zodiac, stars, and other astral figures. This
ring is of German workmanship.[145]
In the collection of works of art bequeathed to the British Museum in
1898 by Baron Ferdinand Rothschild, and designated as the Waddesdon
Bequest, there are several characteristic rings. Of these perhaps the
most notable is a large finger ring of gold, enameled and set with
jewels, a sixteenth century example of German workmanship. The bezel is
in the form of a clasped book; on the cover is a skull, about which
are four stones, sapphire, ruby, emerald, and diamond, and two toads
and snakes in enamel. When the book cover is thrown back there appears
a loose plate of gold, on which is enameled a recumbent figure with
skull and hour-glass; on the under side of the cover is inscribed in
black enamel (in capitals): SIVE VIVIMUS, SIVE MORIMUR, DOMINI
SUMUS. COMMENDA DOMINO VIAM TUAM, ET SPERA IN EUM ET IPSE FACIET
(Whether we live or whether we die we are the Lord’s. Commit thy way
unto the Lord and trust in Him, and He shall bring it to pass). This
combines the text, Romans xiv, 8 with Psalm xxxvii, 5. On the shoulders
of the ring are two groups in enamel, the Fall and the Expulsion from
Eden.[146]
Sixteenth century ring-making, so rich in its variety of eccentric
types, evolved whistle-rings, one of which is in the British Museum.
This is of bronze gilt; the large oval bezel is engraved with a shield
of arms; the hoop is slender at the back. The shoulders are engraved
with strap-work, one of them having a tubular whistle.[147]
An enameled gold ring of striking and original design is owned by Dr.
Albert Figdor, Vienna. The bezel has a lid on which is enameled a head
wearing a half-mask; the eyes are of small lozenge-shaped diamonds, and
there is a bordering of seventeen rubies. On lifting the lid there
appears beneath an oval surface, on which is enameled a heart with the
motto: “Pour vous seule” (For you alone). The inner side of the lid is
hollowed out so as to serve as a receptacle for hair. The hoop, of a
ribbon-like form, bears the significant inscription: “Sous le masque la
vérité” (Beneath the mask is truth). This ring, which belonged to the
famous Viennese tragedienne, Charlotte Wolter, is of French workmanship
and dates from about 1800. A whimsical gold ring in the collection has
a plain hoop, to which the figure of a little mouse, wrought in gold,
is looped by the tail so that it slips around the circlet. Another gold
ring of singular design is one having a diamond in a silver setting
about which are three rubies in gold settings; between the rubies are
three playing cards in enamel. The hoop is of openwork with two playing
cards and two ovals; a section of reddish gold that has been added to
it, indicates that the ring was enlarged at some time from its original
size.[148]
A decoration of a somewhat unusual type appears in a ring to be seen in
the Cleveland Museum of Art, the gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. Homer Wade.
It has for its adornment a minute landscape painting, in place of a
precious stone or seal decoration.[149] This might be a suggestion
to those who may wish to bear with them a pretty reminder of their
favorite country home, or else of some scene that is associated with
exceptionally happy memories.
[Illustration: GOLD RING, RICHLY ENAMELED
The hoop has white, red and black enameling, and is studded with
little emeralds and rubies. The high bezel is set with an emerald
and with a small ruby on each of the four sides. Second half of
Sixteenth Century
Albert Figdor Collection, Vienna]
[Illustration: GOLD RING, WITH HEAD IN FORM OF A ROSE KNOT
The setting consists of a diamond in a silver bezel, and three
rubies in gold bezels; between the rubies are three enameled
playing cards. The hoop is of openwork interspersed with two
playing cards and two ovals in enamel; a section of reddish gold
indicates an enlargement of this ring. Eighteenth Century
Albert Figdor Collection, Vienna]
A symbolic ring recently designed and executed in New York artfully
combines a number of significant elements, each of which has a
distinct bearing upon the history, the fortunes, or the taste of the
prospective wearer. At the head of the ring is set his birth-stone,
the sard, about which are engraved his family crest and motto, and the
initials of his name. On the shank are two relief representations,
one of a lion, “the king of beasts,” typifying royal descent, the
other showing the wearer’s patron saint, Michael; at the left of
this figure is set an emerald as the talismanic gem. Surmounting the
head of the ring are a series of light gothic arches, indicating the
religious character of this jewel. On the smooth inner side of the
head is engraved a mystic design, consisting of a double triangle,
interlaced to form a six-pointed star, and enclosed by a circle; within
the triangles appears in blue emerald the “mystic number” 15, that of
the wearer, blue being his astral color; the triangles symbolize the
inseparability of the Holy Trinity, and the circle typifies Eternity,
this word being engraved above, as well as the date of the wearer’s
birth, and a legend commemorating the gift of the ring. It is made of
fine gold, so that it may the better denote absolute purity.
In one type of serpent ring, one of the ends is inserted loose into
the mouth of the serpent’s head terminating the other end, so that by
a little careful bending, the trifling difference in the diameter of
the hoop necessary to adjust it perfectly to a finger can be easily
attained. This form already appears among ancient rings.[150]
Two finely wrought serpent rings are shown on the Plate.[151] In one
of these (No. 2), with three coils, the erect head of the snake with
distended jaws is vividly portrayed, making the ring a work of art
indeed, but arousing an instinctive repulsion in the beholder. The
other serpent ring constitutes a simple circlet, the head of the snake
overlapping the tail. As an example of artistic workmanship it fully
equals the larger ring, and may be considered better adapted for the
adornment of the hand, since the serpent nature is not so aggressively
presented.
Rings of a quite unique type, that owes its origin to the great war and
to French skill and taste in adapting the most unpromising means to an
artistic end, are those made by French soldiers out of aluminum fuses
taken from the bombs which their German foes have so liberally rained
upon them. At the outset the disks were first worked with scissors to
make rude rings for men’s big fingers. Later on the well-furnished
tool-box of the machine-gun squad was called into requisition. This
early primitive type was soon abandoned, and in order to make rings
of the proper dimensions the metal from the German shells was fused
and run into ingots; the crucible was frequently one of the new iron
helmets, which was set on a wood fire that was kept going by a bellows
improvised from a bayonet sheath. However, the soldiers finally became
so reckless in their search for material that it was found necessary to
put a stop to this, after several had been shot by the enemy.
[Illustration:
1, mourning ring. Gold with enamel and jewels, Seventeenth
Century. 2, snake ring. Carved gold with diamond eyes. Modern
Oriental. 3, Chinese ring. Native gold with seal reading, “Riches
and public honors.” Overlapping back. Nineteenth Century. 4,
wish-bone ring. Copy of an African one in gold. 5, Persian ring.
Gold and silver, set with a carnelian having seal characters
of owner’s name. Metal engraved inside. Eighteenth Century. 6,
Chinese ring. Native gold with seal reading, “Long life and
riches.” Overlapping back. Eighteenth Century. 7, animal ring.
Carved gold in two colors with continuous procession of tigers.
Modern French. 8, Chinese ring. Of greenish jadeite in one piece.
Eighteenth Century.
Rings from the Collection of W. Gedney Beatty]
[Illustration: THREE TYPES OF WATCH RING
Front, side and end views]
The first models for the rings were made of wood or soft limestone.
At a more advanced stage, round bars were made, which were cut into
sections by means of the jagged edge of an old trench-spade. The
smoothing off was done with a knife, and for making the ring
apertures a pick was commonly used. They were then polished with a
piece of hard wood, moistened from time to time to soften it.
This still primitive form failed to satisfy the amateur ring-makers,
and soon some of them began to engrave their rings with the point of
a pocket-knife, and others, more ambitious, encrusted them with small
pieces of copper, either mortised or rivetted in. Although many of
the rings were undoubtedly the work of entirely unpracticed hands, of
course in any of the great modern national armies men of all trades
and professions are represented, and hence the really fine examples
of these war-time rings have been the work of those familiar with
the jewellers’ art. So eagerly did some of the soldiers pursue this
avocation, that when their aluminum threatened to give out, they would
look impatiently for a bombardment to get a new supply.[152]
The “add-a-link” ring is made up of a series of small links which all
snap one in the other. The purchaser buys one with the number of links
requisite to fit the finger exactly. If he wishes to have a stone in it
he buys a link with a stone inserted therein. A plain link is snapped
out of the ring and the link with the stone is snapped in. Sometimes
these rings are made up of a variety of stones and then again with only
one stone. It is possible in this way for the purchaser to obtain, at a
moderate cost, a variety of settings, changeable at will. Moreover, a
ring of this type can be enlarged as the finger grows larger.
Among a number of ring-types designed for the practical convenience of
the owner and only worn temporarily to serve a particular purpose,
we may note the cigarette ring, provided with a straight sliding
rod the end of which clasps the middle of a cigarette, so that when
a whiff has been taken, the hand may be freely used without laying
aside or dropping the cigarette. Another smokers’ ring is one provided
with a projection for stopping a pipe, rendering it possible for the
ardent pipe-smoker to keep his pipe-bowl well filled and well packed
without soiling the tips of his fingers. These pipe-stopping rings
are sometimes of rich materials, in one instance the stopper was of a
beautiful white zircon, finely contrasting with the rich yellow gold
of the ring proper. Rings of this kind were very much in vogue in the
eighteenth century, and one appears on the hand of a gentleman in one
of Hogarth’s engravings.
The name “swivel ring” is applied when the head of the ring is loose,
and is loosely secured by a bar to the band or circlet, so that the
ring will swing around. This type is frequently used in scarab rings,
or where there is a double intaglio, a double miniature, or other
double object, or where the ring is what is known as a concealed seal
ring, the outside part being a gold ornament or a stone.
One of the “surprise rings” in which a hinged outer section of the
hoop can be made to detach itself, on a spring being pressed, so that
a concealed surface appears, shows on its hidden surface a number of
magical signs and the names of the angels or spirits Ashmodel, Nachiel,
Zamiel, and others. Wearing a ring of this kind, the adept could reveal
his belief in the magic arts to others of his sect or fraternity,
thus bearing about with him a secret passport admitting him to their
confidence.[153]
A pretty way of utilizing old and cherished rings for the production
of an attractive ornament is to link them together so as to form a
chatelaine. By this means a large number of family memorial rings,
either those of more or less remote ancestors or of persons whom the
owner has known and loved, may be combined in a single beautiful chain.
This can be done in several ways. After opening the rings at the joint,
they are strung one below the other, the monotony of the effect being
varied by one or more double rings, the terminal of the chain being a
seal-ring with the bezel downward. Another method is to have a series
of double rings, each one of which is joined to the member of the pair
immediately below, by means of a small ring made for this purpose;
here again the terminal will be either a seal-ring, or one set with a
large precious stone. Such ornaments are not only things of beauty in
themselves, but unique in the memories they serve to perpetuate in the
hearts of the wearers.
THE MATERIALS OF RINGS
Ring whittling or carving is a favorite occupation of sailors and young
boys. Many interesting rings have been carved by them out of peach
pits, flexible ivory, cocoanut shells, gutta percha, walrus ivory,
boxwood, whale’s teeth and many other substances. These are frequently
incised with the initials of the wearer or the one to whom the ring is
to be presented. Then again, pins are cut off and the upper part driven
into the hoop, in such a way that the head of the pin appears as a
beading; often metallic points are added. Other rings are carved with
hearts, folded hands and other symbols of sentiment.
As a ring is necessary in marriage it has occasionally happened when no
precious metal was available in hasty marriages, or out of economy,
that a curtain ring, taken from the church curtain, has been used.
Memory rings, of threads wound around the finger, have often been
employed. Sometimes these are made of cord or yarn, and each ring is
supposed to represent one object to be remembered, and to be purchased,
or delivered at the final place of destination. The writer distinctly
remembers seeing an old man nearly 90 years of age, wearing a waistcoat
older than himself, and with at least twenty strings of different
colors and variety on his fingers. He trudged a distance of six miles
to the nearest village and had been instructed not to return until
he had purchased or obtained the object meant by each string. This
memorizing by cords or strands has been practised by many primitive
peoples who had not developed any system of writing, a well-known
instance being the wampum records of some of our North American Indian
tribes.
To the famous episode of the descent of the life-goddess Ishtar to the
infernal regions, forming part of the great Babylonian poem known as
the “Gilgamesh Epic,” have been appended a few lines suggesting an idea
distantly resembling that in the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. A
mourner who seeks to release a loved one from the Realm of Death, is
told to address himself to Tammuz (= Adonis). A festival garment is
to be put on the god’s statue to induce him “to play on the flute of
lapis-lazuli,” with a ring of porphyry. This divine music was believed
to arouse the dead and call them to inhale the fragrance of the incense
offering prepared for them.[154] The “porphyry ring” for playing the
musical instrument might seem to indicate that it was some form of
lyre, on which the ring could be used as a kind of plectrum, rather
than a flute or other wind-instrument.
Rings made entirely of a precious stone substance were not uncommon in
the time of Rameses III (1202–1170 B.C.) and later Egyptian
sovereigns, but there is no evidence of their having been made at a
more remote period. The prejudice against burying rings with the dead
does not seem to have affected the Egyptians, for in a number of cases
rings have been found on the fingers of mummies.[155]
The sardonyx was a favorite stone with the Romans of the Imperial Age,
as is proved by the frequent allusions to it by the poets of this time.
Of a celebrated player on the lyre, Juvenal (50–130 A.D.)
says that as his hand passed over the strings the whole instrument was
lighted up by the sheen of his many sardonyx rings.[156] Such a ring
was regarded as a most appropriate birthday gift.[157] Another passage
relates that the advocate Paulus, in order to render his address before
the court more impressive, wore upon his hand a fine onyx ring which he
had borrowed from a friend especially for this occasion.[158] Indeed,
so highly was the stone prized that it was called the first of gems
(_gemma princeps sardonychus_) and ivory caskets were regarded as
fit receptacles for sardonyxes.[159] The value of rings set with them
is shown by the fact that in Hadrian’s (76–138 A.D.) time,
they were expressly associated with the gems of greatest value, such
being strictly differentiated from those worth but four gold pieces
each.[160]
Several rings of the Later Roman period in the British Museum are set
with small diamonds. Of these the following are believed to represent
original settings:[161]
No. 779. Plain solid hoop with sides cut flat. It is set with a
small pointed diamond. Castellani Coll., 1872.
No. 785. Thin rounded hoop, slightly expanding upwards. Pointed
diamond in raised oblong setting. From Tartûs. Franks Bequest,
1897.
No. 787. Angular hoop, projecting sharply below the shoulders,
which are in the form of hollow leaves within a triangular frame.
The bezel is square and contains an octahedral diamond; the sides
are open and form a kind of wave pattern. Castellani Coll., 1872.
3rd century, A.D.
No. 788. Type akin to last. On either shoulder is an openwork
triangle. The bezel is square and contains an octahedral diamond;
on either side of the bezel is a small openwork triangle.
No. 789. Type akin to last. The lower part of the hoop has a
groove running along its middle; either shoulder is cut away in a
slight curve. The bezel is square, with a triangular space left
open in each side and with a round opening below. It contains a
diamond of octahedral form. Franks Bequest, 1897.
No. 790. Type akin to last. The hoop is rounded without; the
curved excision of the shoulders is more pronounced. Two double
pyramid-shaped (octahedral) diamonds are set in the bezel. A
triangle is cut out of either shoulder, and two smaller
triangles on either side of the bezel. Underneath the stone are
two lozenge-shaped openings. Franks Bequest, 1897.
[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF AN UNKNOWN MAN IN THE COSTUME OF THE
FIFTEENTH CENTURY, BY ANTONIO DEL POLLAIOLO
He holds between the thumb and index of his left hand a ring set
with a naturally pointed diamond crystal
Galleria Corsini, Florence]
[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF A VENETIAN SENATOR, BY A. DA SOLARIO
Seal ring on thumb of left hand
National Gallery, London]
In all these cases the diamond is a small natural crystal of octahedral
form suggesting the “diamond, a point of a stone,” of which the
astronomer Manilius wrote in the first century, and, perhaps, the
diamond in Berenice’s ring mentioned in the same period by the satirist
Juvenal. Another ring in the British Museum, however, is set with
two _facetted_ diamonds, as well as with two other stones (No.
778 of catalogue, Plate xx, same number). Here the diamonds have
unquestionably been set at a time long posterior to the making of the
ring, which is believed to belong, approximately, to the same period
as the others we have listed. The diamonds were probably inserted
to replace two of the original stones that had fallen out of their
settings.
Sir Charles Hercules Read pronounces the instances of diamond settings
in ancient rings to be exceeding rare. He states that the examples
above noted are the only ones of which he knows, and considers that
they belong to the third or fourth century of our era.[162]
The famous Marlborough collection of gems includes a thumb ring
entirely of sapphire. To give this stone ring the necessary resisting
power, it has been lined with a thick hoop of gold. The engraving it
bears, a head of the Elder Faustina, the wife of Antoninus Pius (86–161
A.D.), is believed to replace an original Arabic inscription
that fitted this ring for use as a seal.[163]
Rings entirely of precious-stone material, or “hololith” rings, have
been found at Mycenæ, one of jasper and another of rock-crystal, and
a carnelian ring was discovered in a tomb in southern Russia. Each of
these bears an engraved design. Two carnelian rings are in the British
Museum.
Chalcedony rings, that is, rings entirely formed of this stone, while
quite rare, are represented by a few specimens. We describe elsewhere
the so-called betrothal ring of the Virgin at Perugia,[164] and the
British Museum has a large example of a chalcedony ring, with the hoop
rounded on the outer side, and a raised bezel that has been roughly cut
so as to indicate a human head, some scratches marking the hair. The
work is late Roman and the inscription shows that it was made for some
adherent of the Gnostic sect.[165]
A large ring, entirely of rock crystal, shows on the oval flattened
surface of the upper part a curious combination of the “Tau Cross,”
with superposed “chrisma,” and with a serpent twined about it,
recalling the brazen serpent of Moses, the view of which restored
health to the diseased; the Greek letters, _alpha_ and _omega_, “the
beginning and the end,” complete this interlacing of Old and New
Testament emblems; the doves facing the cross are the faithful to whom
the Cross of Christ brings salvation.[166] Another entire crystal ring
bears on its flat face a design of somewhat similar import, with,
however, the curious difference that the lower end of the cross is
supported on a little Cupid, on either side of which figure is a
dove.[167]
The jewels of the Mogul emperors were the most splendid in the world,
but few have survived intact to our time, as nearly all were broken
up by the spoilers of the Mogul Empire. However, one of the few that
have been preserved for us is a most interesting illustration of the
type of ring favored in that age and region. This is one made for
Jehangir Shah, the father of Shah Jehan, for whom was erected the
wonderful Taj Mahal at Agra, a memorial of his dearly beloved wife,
Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1629. It is about 1¼ inches in diameter
and is cut out of a solid emerald of exceptional purity and beauty
of color; from the ring proper depend two fine emerald drops, while
set in two collets are rose diamonds with ruby bordering. Jehangir’s
name is engraved on the hoop. This ring was probably carried off by
Nadir Shah at the looting of Delhi in 1739, and after remaining in
the Persian treasury for a few years found its way, with other gems
and jewels plundered from the Moguls, into the hands of the Afghan
chiefs. One of these, the unfortunate Shah Shujah, in the course of
his wanderings after he had been blinded and deprived of his throne
by a brother, finally sought and found refuge under the protection of
the British East India Company, and as a token of gratitude, or as a
slight _quid pro quo_, he gave this historic ring to the company.
After having been acquired by Lord Auckland, it passed into the hands
of the Hon. Miss Eden. This is probably the very finest specimen of the
rare type of hololith rings, or rings entirely consisting of a single
precious-stone material.[168]
For those who believed in the magic virtues of precious stones, a ring
of this kind would possess much greater efficacy than would a metal
ring set with the stone, as in the former case the substance when worn
would always be in direct contact with the skin of the wearer. Jehangir
also owned an entire ruby ring given him by Shaikh Farid-i-Bukhari, and
valued at 25,000 rupees (about $12,500). In modern times, the Burmese
ambassador to the court of Persia is said to have brought with him,
as a gift to the Shah, a ring cut out of a solid ruby of the finest
color.[169]