Rings for the finger : $b from the earliest known times to the present, with full descriptions of the origin, early making, materials, the archæology, history, for affection, for love, for engagement, for wedding, commemorative, mourning, etc.Kunz, George Frederick
History
Rings for the finger : $b from the earliest known times to the present, with full descriptions of the origin, early making, materials, the archæology, history, for affection, for love, for engagement, for wedding, commemorative, mourning, etc.
Kunz, George Frederick
Rings; Rings -- Folklore
1, silver ring of East Indian workmanship. 2, massive Tartar
finger ring of fine gold. 3, copy in silver of the betrothal ring
of Martin Luther, a gift of Richard Watson Gilder. 4, finger
ring with precious stone setting and two irregularly-shaped
pearls. Pendant shows the bust of a bearded man in armor. 5,
gold betrothal ring. Two hands holding a crowned heart. Type
used by Galway fisherman from the Thirteenth Century and called
a “Claddugh Ring.” 6, openwork gold ring. 7, old Chinese gold
ring--oval with Chinese characters, on either side a chiseled
bat. 8, Moorish finger ring of fine gold. Large shield with
characteristic ornamentation. 9, gold ring with intaglio of a
shepherd and goat cut on a light sard. 10, square gold ring, with
bead groups in centre and at corners, the central part in raised
openwork. 11, gold ring. French. Heart-shaped bezel set with
Watteau figure in repousse, under crystal, and surrounded with
bits of green and white crystal between small flowers of gold.
12, silver finger ring. Two hoops linked together by true-lovers’
knot.]
An unusually large ring was worn by the well-known theatrical
manager, Sheridan Shook. It was set with an amethyst an inch long by
three-quarters of an inch broad and half an inch deep, and weighing two
and a half ounces. The letter S was engraved in the stone and inlaid
with small diamonds. This immense ring with its massive gold setting
can hardly be termed a great work of art, but it is unique in its way
and was greatly valued by its owner, who only ceased to wear it when
ill-health and weakness made it too much of a burden.
The extensive and remarkable collections of the late Alexander Wilson
Drake, which were disposed of at the American Art Galleries in New
York, March 10th to 17th, 1913, comprised a fine collection of finger
rings, illustrating a large variety of forms and periods. There were
in all nearly 800 examples, set and unset. There were betrothal rings,
memorials rings, gimmal rings, puzzle rings, rings of Roman, French,
German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Irish, Scandinavian, English and
American workmanship, and many Oriental rings, Sassanian, Indian,
Japanese, Chinese, Hebrew, Gypsy and Moorish, one of the latter being
a gold circlet with the twelve signs of the zodiac engraved in high
relief around it.
The personality of the collector added greatly to the charm of this
collection for all who had known him. As art editor of the _Century
Magazine_, and in a thousand other ways, no one had labored more
enthusiastically and successfully in the cause of art encouragement and
art education, and his death constituted a real loss for the progress
of art in America.
The valuable and carefully chosen collection of gem stones set
in rings, which was made by the late Sir Arthur Herbert Church
(1834–1915), has been presented by his widow, Lady Church, to the
trustees of the British Museum and is shown in the Natural History
building.[141]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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