522 



NATURE 



[August 30, 191 7 



RINGS. 



Rings for the Finger: From the Earliest Kno^vti 

 Times to the Present, with Full Descriptions of 

 the Origin, Early Making, Materials, the 

 Archaeology, History, for Affection, for Love, 

 for Engagement, for Wedding, Commemora- 

 tive, Mourning, etc. By Dr. G. F. Kunz. 

 Pp. xviii + 381. (Philadelphia and London: 

 J. B. Lippincott Co., 1917.) Price 285. net. 



THE author of the volume before us is well 

 known as one of the leading- authorities in 

 the world on all that pertains to the aesthetic and 

 scientific aspects of jewelry. If our memory 

 has not misled us, in the preface to one of his 

 books he claims to possess a collection of litera- 

 ture relating to precious stones and jewelry 

 which, in point of view of extent and complete- 

 ness, is unsurpassed by any other private library. 

 Unlike not a few owners of large libraries, he 

 evidently does not allow the volumes to lie idle on 

 the shelves ; he takes them down and reads them, 

 and notes down any item that strikes him as of 

 unusual interest. His teeming notebooks have 

 provided material for a series of books on sub- 

 jects connected with jewelry, and now in this 

 sumptuous volume, which is issued at a corre- 

 spondingly sumptuous price, he pleasantly and 

 discursively treats of an article of ornament that 

 has for countless years played a conspicuous part 

 in the domestic and ceremonial life of man — and 

 especially woman. 



The origin of the ring is wrapped in obscurity. 

 Dr. Kunz thinks that it may have been evolved 

 in either or both of two ways. In very early times 

 it was the practice to carry on the person a 

 cylindrical seal, and no doubt it occurred to some- 

 one that a convenient way of carrying it was 

 to place it upon the finger. Another likely source 

 was the knot; the true-lovers' knot is familiar 

 to-day, and a twisted piece of metal wire or a 

 knotted cord was a favourite talisman in primitive 

 times. The ring as we know it now has not been 

 traced back farther than the Bronze age. Some 

 sixteen years ago M. Henri de Morgan discovered 

 in the valley of Agha Evlar, near the Caspian Sea, 

 several sepulchral dolmens which, when opened, 

 were found to contain a considerable number of 

 metal, stone, and glass ornaments, among them 

 being bronze rings. They are supposed to date 

 back to about 2000 B.C., but the date cannot be 

 fixed because of the lack of inscriptions. The 

 rings found in the tombs at Enkomi. Cyprus. 

 can be dated with greater precision ; they are o^ 

 Egyotian manufacture, and belong to the period 

 of about 1400-1000 B.C. There appears to be 

 no doubt that the manufacture of rings originated 

 in Egypt and spread thence to Greece and to Italv. 

 Among the Romans the wearing of rings was at 

 first rigidly confined to senators and the patrician 

 class, and it was not until the third century a.d. 

 that these restrictions were swept away. The 

 early form of ring was very simple, consistins" 

 merely of a bent piece of wire fastened to the 

 scarab or whatever was the object worn ; complete 

 NO. 2496, VOL. 99] 



rings appear to have been first made in the Golden 

 age of Egyptian civilisation. 



When the author passes on to the other topics 

 discussed in the book, such as signet rings, in- 

 teresting^ rings, betrothaj and religious rings, and 

 rings used as talismans or for healing, he 

 traverses ground already to some extent trodden 

 in his previous works. Some interest attaches to 

 a form of ring seldom seen to-day, viz. the holo- 

 lithic, i.e. one which is wholly — circlet and chatoa 

 — cut out of a single stone. Such rings were, 

 however, common in days of archery, when rings 

 made of agate or chalcedony were used to pro- 

 tect the thumb of the hand holding the bow from 

 being cut by the string as it straightened after 

 the arrow had sped on its course. Five rings of 

 the kind made of agate, carnelian, mocha-stone, 

 or jasper were included in the collections which 

 were bequeathed to the nation by Sir Hans Sloane 

 in 1753 and led to the formation of the 

 British Museum. The most wonderful hololithic 

 ring on record is one measuring about ij in. in 

 diameter and cut from an unusually beautiful 

 emerald ; dependent from it are two fine emerald 

 drops, and rose diamonds bordered with rubies 

 are set in two collets. It was made to the order 

 of the great Jehangir Shah, and was engraved 

 with his name. After passing through many 

 vicissitudes the ring was given to tTie British East 

 India Company by the unfortunate Shah Shujah, 

 and was afterwards acquired bv Lord Auckland. 



In the last chapter the author describes carefullv 

 the modern manufacture of rings by means of 

 machinery, and illustrates the various stages from 

 the wire to the finished article. Some idea of the 

 magnitude of the industry may be gauged bv the 

 fact that a single factory in the United States 

 has turned out upwards of three million rings in a 

 year. 



Dr. Kunz in the course of the book describes 

 many of the more famous rings contained in the 

 British Museum collections, and constantly refers 

 to the catalogues of the rings in that institution. 

 He gives a facsimile of a sketch made by Sir 

 C. H. Read of a seal-ring on a finger of a bronze 

 statue of the third or fourth century. A curious 

 mishap has occurred on p. 86, probably in the 

 course of paging the book : the last five linesj 

 at the foot of the nage, excluding the foot-note, j 

 should have been inserted in the middle of the! 

 page. Possibly had the publication of the book; 

 been delayed a few months the following sentence 

 on p. 160 might have been worded a little dif- 

 ferently : "The gems with which they are set were 

 bought by the Rev. Dr. John P. Peters from an 

 Arab in the Kut-el-Amara region, where the 

 British invaders of Mesopotamia underwent such 

 a disastrous defeat." The illustrations to the 

 book are, from the point of view of reproduction 

 of exceptionally high quality, but they appear tc 

 have been selected a little at random. It is no 

 clear why a letter from Admiral Peary and on« 

 from Sir Sidney Lee and Mr. F. C. Wellstood wen 

 reproduced in facsimile ; they really add nothing t( 

 the value or interest of the book. There is ai 

 excellent index. 



