piece of emerald. It is an example of the type which is narrow at one
end, tapering to a broad edge at the other. It is of a beautiful green
emerald and very handsomely engraved. This ring was probably made
for the Mogul Emperor Shah Jehan, about 1650. It was part of Nadir
Shah’s share of the booty from the sack of Delhi in 1739, and this
Persian adventurer had the following inscription engraved upon it in
Persian characters: “For a bow for the King of Kings, Nadir, Lord of
the Conjunction, at the subjugation of India, from the Jewel-house
[at Delhi] it was selected 1152 [1739 A.D.]”. The luckless
Shah Shuja gave it to Runjit Singh, the Lion of the Panjab, in 1813,
when he took refuge at the latter’s court at Lahore. At the end of
the second Sikh war in 1849 it was found with the regalia in the royal
treasury of Lahore. This splendid ring once owned by Lord Dalhousie,
was sold at Edinburgh in 1898; it came into the possession of W. H.
Broun, Esq., and is now one of the gems of a private collection in
Philadelphia.[170]
In past times the Shahs of Persia have passed ordinances restricting
the exportation of turquoise. Regarding this precious stone as
peculiarly Persian and for the furthering of Persian goldsmiths, it
was enacted that no unset turquoises should be exported; as a rule
the settings were in rings, these being easily transported, since a
great number of them could be strung together. Sometimes a prospective
purchaser was permitted to test the quality of a string of turquoise
rings by wearing a bunch of them for a while under his arm-pit, to see
whether the stones would change color. Although some failed to endure
this rather severe test, many withstood it successfully.
The entire circlet of certain of the finest turquoise rings was
of pierced gold enriched with rose diamonds; other, less valuable
turquoises have been set in fine gold rings, carved or plain, and those
of the next lower value, in ornamented silver. The cheaper sort ranged
in price all the way from one cent to a few dollars, and were often
set in rings made of tin, or of tinned iron, the hoop costing but two
cents. The stones were always cut irregularly _en cabochon_, the
form being frequently quite pleasing; if the turquoise were thin the
back was coated with pitch to bring out the color, and on the surface
was engraved some short formula from the Koran, such as “Allah be
praised!” or “Allah is great!” Occasionally the Shah’s portrait was the
subject.
In the Roman world entire rings of yellow amber were sometimes formed,
and in a few instances figures or heads have been engraved in relief
upon the chaton. Their execution need not have presented any greater
difficulty than did the carving of the many small amber figures which
have come down to us from ancient times. A carved amber ring in the
Franks Bequest of the British Museum is beautifully formed with
full-relief figures of Venus and of Cupid on either side. It is cut out
of a single piece of amber, and is considered to be the finest example
extant of Roman carving in that material,[171] but unfortunately is
considerably damaged.
Pliny declares that in his time amber ornaments were almost exclusively
for women’s wear; indeed, a few years later, Artemidorus, in his
“Oneirocritica,” an interpretation of dreams, after saying that amber
and ivory rings were only appropriate for women, proceeds to assert
that this was true of all kinds of rings.[172] There are but a very few
ivory rings in the British Museum, although the collection includes
several bone rings, probably for wear on the thumb. The relief-carving
of masks has been thought to make it likely that they were actors’
rings.[173]
Not only have entire emerald and ruby rings been formed, but even the
intractable diamond has lately been cut in this form. An entire diamond
ring, the work of the diamond-cutter Antoine, of Antwerp, was shown
in the exposition held in Antwerp in 1894.[174] Another such ring has
since been executed by Bart Brouwer of Amsterdam. In this latter ring
the facets are all triangular.
The unrivalled Heber R. Bishop Collection of Jades, now in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, contains an ancient
thumb-ring (_pan chih_), entirely of jade, from the time of the Han
Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.). Its major and minor diameters are 1.16
inches and 1.03 inches, respectively, and it weighs .809 ounce. The
material is the nephrite variety of jade, the color being clouded gray
with very dark brown veinings. The rings of this type were worn on the
thumb of the left hand to protect it from injury by the bowstring after
the discharge of the arrow. The dark veining results from the filling
of the fissures in the material with some brownish-black substance; it
is an excellent example of the amphibolic alteration of jadeite, which
is shown by chemical analysis to be present here to the amount of 4.15
per cent. (No. 330 of the collection).
A recent type of archer’s thumb ring in this collection, of the
Ch’ien-Lung period (1736–1795 A.D.), is of cylindrical form,
the thick solid side bevelled inward at the base so as to adjust the
ring to the hand; the convex top slopes downward from the middle. This
is of a beautiful light emerald-green jadeite, clouded here and there
with shades of greenish gray. It has diameters of 1.06 inches and 1.25
inches, and weighs about 1⅔ ounces. The specific gravity and hardness
are those of the jadeite variety of jade, a silicate of aluminum, while
nephrite is a silicate of magnesium (No. 508).
The Bishop Collection also contains two archers’ rings of the original
type, with a wide flange on the lower side. These are entirely of
carnelian, and are representative of the kind really used by archers.
The greater part of the thumb-rings, many of them called more or less
loosely “archers’ rings,” were never designed for any such special use,
but constitute a modification of the original form to suit them for
habitual wear. Indeed, in many cases the more ornate were rather used
as pretty toys to handle, as Orientals are fond of handling gems or
small jewels, than for wear. Of course the gradual disuse of archery in
military operations contributed greatly to the change of fashion.
In this collection may be seen a finger-ring (chih-huan) of white jade
(nephrite) set with jewels. Its shape resembles that of an archer’s
ring and it is decorated with floral designs, the effect enhanced
by sixty precious stones, comprising twenty-four rubies, thirty-two
emeralds and four diamonds. This ring is of Indian workmanship, those
made in China scarcely ever having any precious-stone adornment.
In the floral ornamentation a row of rubies and emeralds cut _en
cabochon_ are outlined in gold so as to represent flowers, while in
the field are four conventionalized upright sprays, each composed of
three flowers, the upper one a facetted diamond, while the lateral
pair are facetted emeralds. On the upper rim an undulating floral
scroll has stem and leaves of gold, and flowers set alternately with
rubies and emeralds.[175]
At the time a Corean embassy visited the United States in 1883,
one of its leading members was Min Yonk Ik, a princely personage,
closely related to the queen of the country, who brought with him
two thumb-rings, which he wore, alternately, on his right hand
thumb. In the case of one of these rings the Corean must have been
imposed upon by the seller, for he supposed it to be jade, while
the present writer’s examination of it showed that the material was
merely serpentine. Its outside diameter was 34 mm. (1⅓ in.), the
inside diameter being 22 mm. (about ⅞ in.), the length, or height, was
28.5 mm. (1⅛ in.). This ring was described by the writer in 1884, in
_Science_; in the succeeding year he had occasion to correct a
statement that it was an archer’s ring.[176] The Corean women commonly
wear two rings, always exactly similar in every respect. As a rule they
are perfectly plain, of oval form, the material being gold, silver,
amber or coral. The coral was usually imported from China.
The Chinese ambassador, Wu Ting Fang, wore a jade ring in which was
a thick plate of gold to reduce the size. Some of the more beautiful
are of the pale green jade, known by the Chinese as _fei ts’ui_,
or “kingfisher-plumes.” Many of these rings are exceedingly costly;
when made of some piece of jade possessing very exceptional qualities
of color and surface, a thumb-ring may cost as much as $10,000, or
even $15,000. Incidentally, it should be noted that Wu Ting Fang is an
excellent judge of precious stones.
Archers’ rings are made by Chinese and Manchus, Turks and Persians,
who release the arrow according to Asiatic style, the bowstring being
held by the bent thumb. In China they eventually became the insignia
of military rank, and were of jade, or a glass imitation of jade; the
latter are the kind usually to be found in curio shops. The Japanese
did not use them, the archers wearing a glove with a horn thumb-piece.
This type of glove was, however, not used by the Japanese swordsmen, as
the stiff thumb-piece would have hindered the free use of the hand.[177]
An engraved finger ring entirely of milk-white jade is in the Berlin
Mineralogical Museum, and in the collection of Dr. David Wiser, of
Zurich, there is a jade ring-setting on which is engraved a scorpion.
This image was believed to lend to the object so engraved a talismanic
virtue. A slab of jade in the Freiburg Museum bears the carefully
engraved figure of a scorpion and is considered to be an amulet. The
source of this specimen and the place and time in which it was engraved
have not been accurately ascertained.[178]
The Pueblo Bonito ruins in New Mexico have furnished us with a fragment
of a jet ring. The portion remaining of this ring shows that it must
have had a diameter of about 2.3 centimetres, the width of the band
being 1.4 centimetres. Apparently some accident befell the original
ring, causing part of the brittle material to chip off, for in the
section that has been preserved a piece of jet, as wide as the band and
9 millimetres across, has been inlaid in the body of the ring. This was
cut away to a depth of a millimetre, and the concave-convex inlay was
then glued on.[179]
The gold-plating of bronze rings dates back to the Mycenæan period, and
Ionic silver rings with gold plating were made in the sixth century
B.C.; Cypriote bronze rings of about the third century B.C. have also
been found. Where, as in many cases, mere gilding has been resorted to,
only traces of this may remain after the lapse of centuries.[180] We
note elsewhere the gold-plated iron rings worn by some Roman slaves to
evade the penalty imposed upon those who illegally wore gold rings.
Glass rings are frequently made at Murano and other places in Italy of
the so-called “gold stone,” aventurine, or Venice gold stone. They are
very inexpensive and are generally worn by children or young girls.
Mosaic rings are those in which the upper part of the ring contains
either a Byzantine mosaic made up of colored glass or other material,
or a Florentine mosaic, in which shell, marble and other materials are
set in slate or marble settings.
Bohemian garnet rings are generally made of facetted, rose cut, or
cabochon cut garnets, set usually in 8 to 14 carat gold. They are made
in Prague and other cities in Bohemia, the garnet material, of the
pyrope variety, coming largely from the mines at Meronitz, Bohemia.
Among the cheap materials that have been used on occasion for making
rings, are horseshoe nails, which may perhaps be supposed to possess
some of the wonderful talismanic power accorded by popular fancy to the
horseshoe. The nails are more or less skilfully twisted into a ring
form, and are at least as durable as other forms of iron rings.
An extraordinary material combination for the substance of rings, is
that of dynamite and pewter. At present when the war-fever has seized
upon almost all civilized peoples, we might accord to the dynamite in
this composition a symbolic martial meaning. What risk there might be
of the painful results of war befalling the wearer of a dynamite ring
through its detonating unexpectedly because of some powerful shock, is
perhaps too slight to deter those who are in eager pursuit of novelties.
The pale alloy of gold, known as electrum,[181] was favored for
ring-making in Oriental Greece, and is termed “white gold” in ancient
inventories. Thus in an inventory of the temple treasures of Eleusis,
made in 332 B.C., there is mention of “two plain gold rings
of white gold.”[182] Some Ionic rings of the fifth century, B.C.
from Cyprus are also of this metallic composition. Of gold rings set
with stones, a Parthenon inventory of 422 B.C. lists one
with an onyx, perhaps a scaraboid, and in a Delos inventory of 279
B.C., there is one with an _anthrax_, probably a garnet.
The variation of the phrasing in these two mentions, the former naming
an onyx having a ring of gold, while the latter speaks of a “gold
ring having a garnet,” might be taken to indicate that the onyx was a
large object compared with the hoop, and the garnet a relatively small
one.[183]
In the masterpiece of ancient Greek romantic prose literature, the
Æthiopica of Heliodorus (fl. ab. 400 A.D.), perhaps Heliodorus Bishop
of Tricca, the writer describes a splendid ring given by Kalasiris to
Nausikles. This was one of the royal jewels of the King of Ethiopia.
The hoop was of electrum, and in the bezel was set a beautiful amethyst
engraved with a design showing a shepherd pasturing his flock.[184]
Heliodorus especially dwells upon the fact that this was an Ethiopian
(probably an Indian) amethyst, this variety far surpassing those from
Iberia (the Spanish Peninsula) and Britain. In the very successful
rendering of this Greek passage by Rev. C. W. King, the contrast
between the former and the latter is thus gracefully expressed:[185]
For the latter blushes with a feeble hue, and is like a rose
just unfolding its leaves from out of the bud, and beginning
to be tinged with red by the sunbeams. But in the Ethiopian
Amethyst, out of its depth flames forth like a torch a pure and
as it were Spring-like beauty; and if you turn it about as you
hold it, it shoots out a golden lustre, not dazzling the sight
by its fierceness, but resplendent with cheerfulness. Moreover,
a more genuine nature is inherent in it than is possessed by any
brought from the West, for it does not belie its appellation, but
proves in reality to the wearer an antidote against intoxication,
preserving him sober in the midst of drinking-bouts.
In his “Rape of the Lock,” Pope writes of Belinda’s golden hair-bodkin,
that the metal had originally been worked up into rings and then into a
gold buckle, thus the gold was
The same, his ancient personage to deck
Her great-great-grandsire wore about his neck
In three seal-rings, which, after melted down,
Formed one huge buckle for his widow’s gown.
Besides the precious metals many other materials were used in ancient
times for rings. Thus a few leaden rings have been preserved, a number
of them having been unearthed in a tomb at Beneventum. The casting has
been roughly done, without finishing touches. It has been suggested
that in view of the rarity of leaden rings, the large number found
in this tomb may be taken to indicate that the deceased had been a
manufacturer of rings of this kind. From Tanagra comes a leaden ring
of great size; as it is too large for wear, it might be regarded as a
votive offering to a shrine or temple. Glass rings were also used at
times for this purpose by the poorer classes, an example of such a ring
being listed among the possessions of the temple of Asklepios at Athens
as early as the fourth century B.C. The manufacture of glass
rings was quite extensively carried on in Alexandria. In one case the
bezel had been adorned with a painting of a woman’s head, over which
was placed a translucent glass plate. This was found at the Rosetta
Gate, Alexandria.[186]
An ivory ring of Roman times, later provided with a band of silver, is
noted in the descriptive catalogue of the Royal Museum at Budapest. It
is of oval form and artistically engraved with the seated figure of a
military leader clothed with a mantle, the left hand extended as though
delivering a speech; in his right hand he holds a spear. Behind him is
a trophy, and before him stands a Roman soldier fully armed. Engraved
ivory rings from Greek or Roman times are rare, just as are engraved
amber rings. The trophy emblem denotes that this ring commemorated some
triumph, or victory.[187]
A “St. Martin’s ring” had become, in the seventeenth century, a name
for a brummagem ring, as is shown among other examples by the following
satirical passage from a book entitled “Whimsies, or a new Cast of
Characters,” published in London in 1631: “St. Martin’s Rings and
counterfeit bracelets are commodities of infinite consequence; they
will passe current at a may-pole, and purchase favor from their May
Marian.” A rare tract called “The Captain’s Commonwealth” (1617) says
that kindness was not like alchemy or a St. Martin’s ring, “that are
faire to the eye and have a rich outside; but if a man should breake
them asunders, and looke into them, they are nothing but brasse and
copper.” The makers, or vendors of these rings lived within the
precincts of the collegiate church St. Martin’s-le-Grand, and had long
enjoyed a certain immunity from prosecution under the laws prohibiting
the manufacture of ornaments made in imitation of genuine gold or
silver ones. The gilding or silvering of brooches or rings made of
copper or latten, is prohibited by an ordinance of Henry IV (1404),
and another of Edward IV (in 1464), which, while pronouncing it to be
unlawful to import rings of gilded copper or latten, expressly declared
that the act should not be construed as meaning anything prejudicial
to one Robert Styllington, clerk, dean of the King’s free chapel of
“St. Martin le Graund de Londres” or to any person or persons dwelling
within this sanctuary or precincts, or who might in after time dwell
there, or more especially in St. Martin’s Lane.[188]
Rings set with precious stones, other than turquoises and pearls,
can be safely cleaned with warm water, white soap and a trifle of
ammonia. The wash should be applied with a soft old tooth-brush, so
as to cleanse the spaces between the filling and the stone-setting. A
little polishing off with a soft chamois will thoroughly restore the
brilliancy of the stone. Turquoise or pearl rings, however, need more
careful treatment and the above directions do not apply in their case.
III
SIGNET RINGS
If we pass over the scene between Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar,
related in Gen. xxxvii, 12–26, where the patriarch leaves his signet
(not necessarily a signet _ring_) his bracelets and his staff, as
pledges for a promised gift, the earliest Hebrew notice of a ring is in
Genesis xlii, 42, where we read that in return for the interpretation
of his dream and for the valuable counsel as to laying up a stock of
grain in Egypt to forestall a coming famine, the Pharaoh of the time
“took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand.”
This might refer to a period about 1600 B.C., or possibly
somewhat earlier, always providing the tradition be accepted as in a
certain sense exact. Centuries later, in the Desert, when the Lord
commanded offerings for the Tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, and
for the ephod and breastplate, among the gifts proffered are enumerated
“bracelets, earrings, and rings” (Exodus, xxxv, 22). The Book of
Daniel, written not earlier than the sixth century before Christ,
and more probably, in its present form, a work of the second century
B.C., relating the imprisonment of Daniel in the lions’ den,
states that when at the reluctant command of King Darius he was shut
up therein, “a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den;
and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his
lords” (Dan. vi, 17). Still, these might have been of the well-known
Babylonian type of “rolling seals” and not rings.
The Book of Esther, however, of later date than Daniel, makes definite
mention of the signet ring of the Persian monarch called Ahasuerus
(Artaxerxes) in the Biblical text, and while the recital can scarcely
be accepted as historical in any sense, the details of custom and
adornment are probably quite trustworthy. On investing Haman with a
great authority, Ahasuerus “took his ring from his hand and gave it
unto Haman,” whereupon the latter summoned the king’s scribes and had
them write letters to the provincial governors--instructing the latter
to kill all the Jews in the kingdom on the thirteenth day of the month
Adar; each of these letters was “sealed with the king’s ring.” Before
this dire disaster could be consummated, the royal favor was gently
swayed in an opposite direction by the grace and charm of Esther, the
Hebrew favorite of the sovereign, and the wicked Haman was hanged
on the tall gallows he had set up for Mordecai, Esther’s guardian,
on whom the ring stript from Haman’s hand was bestowed. In spite of
the somewhat confused recital, one point is always strongly brought
out, that the impression of the royal signet imparted to letters or
documents the quality of royal ordinances.
In Persia the power and authority attributed to the ring of the
sovereign is noted by the Persian poet Unsuri (fl. 1000 A.D.),
and in the legends of that land the famous though fabulous hero-king,
Jemshid, is said to have had a magic ring of wondrous power. Among the
Persians, as in many other Oriental countries, the signet-ring was long
considered to be a symbol of authority.[189]
The gold ring of Queen Hâtshepset (about 1500 B.C.), consort
of Thothmes II, whose prenomen, Maât-ka-Ra, signifies “flesh and blood
of Amen Ra,” is set with a lapis lazuli scarab inscribed with the
above words.[190] Another ring with lapis lazuli setting is that of
Thothmes III, whose titles, Beautiful God, Conqueror of All Lands,
Men-kheper-Ra, are inscribed on one side of the rectangular stone
above a design representing a man-headed lion in the act of crushing a
prostrate foe with his paw.[191] A steatite scarab, set in a gold ring,
bears the name of Ptah-mes, a high priest of Memphis.[192] Another
steatite ring-scarab is inscribed with the name and title of Shashank
I, the Shishak of the Bible, who reigned about 966 B.C.[193]
The gold signet ring of Aah-hotep I, queen of Seqenenra III (1610–1597
B.C.) of the XVII Dynasty, was found with a wealth of other
jewels at Draa-abul-Nega, the northern and most ancient part of the
Theban necropolis. This queen had an unusually long and eventful life.
The records clearly indicate that she must have been one hundred years
old, or very nearly that age, at the time of her death, and while her
youth was passed at the end of the period of the oppressive rule of
the foreign Hyksos kings, she lived to witness the glorious revival of
native Egyptian rule under her husband, son and grandson. This ring is
now in the Louvre Museum.[194]
An interesting Egyptian signet bears the cartouche of Khufu, the second
ruler of the IV Dynasty (ab. 3969–3908), the Cheops of the Greeks
(Manetho’s Suphis), in whose reign the greatest of the pyramids was
built. The worship of Khufu continued to a late period of Egyptian
history, and this signet belonged to a Ra-nefer-ab, priest or keeper
of the pyramid under the XXVI Dynasty, 664–525 B.C.[195] The
ring is of fine gold, and weighs nearly ¾ ounce; it was found at Ghizeh
by Colonel Vyse, in a tomb known as Campbell’s Tomb, and was acquired
in Egypt by Dr. Abbott, who gathered together a choice collection of
Egyptian antiquities during a residence of twenty years in Egypt. In
1860, this collection was given to the New York Historical Society
through the liberality of citizens of New York.[196]
The rings of the Minoan and Mycenæan periods from about 1700 B.C. to
1000 B.C. offer a great variety of engraved designs, some in relief
and others in intaglio, but all destined it seems for use as signets.
Undoubtedly these rings derive in the last instance from Egyptian
influence, their especial characteristics, however, are early Greek,
but rarely Egyptian, as in the case of a bronze ring with a sphinx in
relief found in the necropolis of Zafer Papoura near Knossos in Crete.
[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF A MAN, BY LUCAS CRANACH THE ELDER
(1472–1553)
Seal ring on index of left hand with plain ring beneath it; ring
with precious stone setting on little finger of the same hand]
[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF KATHARINA AEDER, WIFE OF MELCHOW
HANLOCHER, BY HANS BOCK THE ELDER