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
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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