THE CRAFTS 
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Egyptian porcelain ring. 
111. No. 1 — Several of these illustrations i 
Egyptian gold signet ring. 
1 from Jones' Finger Ring Lore, ; 
rid others from Davenport's Book on Jewelry. 
FINGER RINGS 
THE custom of wearing rings on the fingers is a very old 
one, and has been followed by the people of most 
countries. They are more particularly the outcome of 
civilization than necklaces, bracelets, or earrings, probably 
because primitive man was essentially a workman and a 
tiller of the soil. And while savage tribes covered them- 
selves with jewelry of either colored stones or metal rudely 
worked, their only rings were of bone, plaited grass, or tor- 
toise shell. 
For so many reasons finger rings are the most interest- 
ing of all jewels. They may be divided into two classes, 
official and personal; the official including ecclesiastical, 
civil, and military; the personal, marriage, betrothal, 
symbolic and heraldic, besides a number with miscellaneous 
meanings, such as the mourning, poison, portrait, key, 
charm and the old fashioned poesie ring. 
It was to fulfill a need that rings were invented. The 
Babylonians and Egyptians used seals which for convenience 
sake were attached to a ring of gold and worn on the finger. 
Illus. No. 1. The less wealthy had rings of ivory and blue 
porcelain, they also had simple bands of silver set with 
scarabs on a pivot. The scarab ring was valuable then as an 
amulet and signified long life; it was also the emblem of the 
sun and of immortality. Later precious stones were used, 
so by degrees the rings passed from an article of use into the 
category of ornament and their use was extended to women. 
People were no longer satisfied with one but wore several, 
and sometimes a single ring was constructed to appear like 
a group of two or three upon the finger, as in Illus. No. 2. 
Key rings were used by Roman housewives when a wax 
seal was not sufficient security. 
century, A. D. 
111. No. 2. 
ring of gold about, 1st 
century A. D. 
Papal rings were very large, the shoulders and sides 
were often ornamented with emblems and designs in relief, 
Illus. No. 3. 
Jewish betrothal and marriage rings of the XVI century 
were remarkable for their size and elaborate decoration. 
They represented often the model of a Jewish temple and 
were engraved inside with Hebrew inscription. Illus. Nos. 
4 and 5. 
Decade rings were made of gold, silver and bronze, they 
had ten projections on the outer side and were worn by the 
monks in the XIV century for repeating Aves, and probably 
as a penance, as they must have been most uncomfortable. 
Interesting for decorative beauty were the later Italian 
rings made in Venice, usually in the realistic form of bas- 
kets or bouquets of flowers wrought in gold, precious stones, 
and pearls, though the Venetian" rings illustrated are more 
simple in style. 
Anglo-Saxon rings. Illus. No. 5. 
The Allistan ring which was found in Carnarvonshire, 
is a very important specimen of Anglo-Saxon jewelry. It 
is of gold with the inscription Allistan and devices, inlaid in 
black alloy or niello. There is every reason to believe that 
the ring belonged to a Bishop of Sherborne of this name, 
who lived in the IX century. History speaks of him as a 
man as much at home on the battlefield as in the church 
and this ring was probably lost when he was on an expedi- 
tion with King Egbert in North Wales. The Darnley ring 
is a gold signet and a record of the marriage of Mary Queen 
of Scots with her cousin Tord Darnley. On the ring are 
the initials M. and H. entwined with lovers knots and in- 
side is engraved the name Henry L. Darnley, the lion of 
Scotland and the date 1563. 
k 
Ancient Egyptia 
111. No. 3. 
Papal jewelry ring of gold, 15th 
' century. 
111. No. 4 
n Jewish gold and enamelled 
ring, 16th century .J 
