From the earliest days of Chinese civilisation, a royal concubine reportedly received a silver ring each time she spent the night with the emperor. Throughout the lovemaking, she wore the ring on her right hand. Upon being discharged, she switched the ring to her left hand. If she became pregnant, she earned a gold ring.
By the Qing dynasty, even common women could afford simple rings and these have survived in plain silver or in a slightly more elaborate enamelled form. The designs were spare fruits, fish, flowers, animals of the zodiac, double happiness symbols and the swastika.
More intricate imagery covered the rings of wealthier citizens. On such pieces, we can find detailed flowers, animals and birds, and the ever popular frog for fertility.
Rings featuring engraved stacks of books might have been owned by either a man or a woman. Since wealthy, privately educated women were writing and publishing poetry as early as the 17th century in China, it's entirely possible that they wore rings bearing literary themes.
Rings engraved with theater scenes often referred to as "opera rings" represented a unique tradition. Traveling Peking opera companies sold such rings as souvenirs of their performances.
Pictures below are the antique Chinese carved silver rings from my collection. The rings features a wonderful figural design and are adjustable.
Silver ring with human figures.
Ring 1
Ring 1
Silver ring with human figures.
Ring 2
Ring 2
Silver enamelled ring with human figures.
Ring 3
Silver ring with human figures.
Ring 4
Silver ring with human figures.
Ring 5
Silver ring with 'Fu', 'Lu' and 'Shou' figures.
Ring 6
By the Qing dynasty, even common women could afford simple rings and these have survived in plain silver or in a slightly more elaborate enamelled form. The designs were spare fruits, fish, flowers, animals of the zodiac, double happiness symbols and the swastika.
More intricate imagery covered the rings of wealthier citizens. On such pieces, we can find detailed flowers, animals and birds, and the ever popular frog for fertility.
Rings featuring engraved stacks of books might have been owned by either a man or a woman. Since wealthy, privately educated women were writing and publishing poetry as early as the 17th century in China, it's entirely possible that they wore rings bearing literary themes.
Rings engraved with theater scenes often referred to as "opera rings" represented a unique tradition. Traveling Peking opera companies sold such rings as souvenirs of their performances.
Pictures below are the antique Chinese carved silver rings from my collection. The rings features a wonderful figural design and are adjustable.
Silver ring with human figures.Ring 1
Ring 1
Silver ring with human figures.Ring 2
Ring 2
Silver enamelled ring with human figures.Ring 3
Silver ring with human figures.Ring 4
Silver ring with human figures.Ring 5
Silver ring with 'Fu', 'Lu' and 'Shou' figures.Ring 6
Fascinating! Thanks so much for the photos and explanation.
ReplyDeleteI have several of these rings, collected by my late mother in Hong Kong in the 1970s, from junk shops in places like Cat Street.
Growing up, I heard them referred to as "thumb rings" for men, but that likely only refers to the longer ones (about the length of your ring 3, though mine are squarish and yours is oval). More recently I saw one described online as an "opera ring".
Certain motifs repeat in these rings - e.g. 3 people in robes, 2 standing and the middle one kneeling - and I thought they would be Confucian scenes, but it would also make sense if they were scenes from popular Cantonese operas. Anybody know?
I love and regularly wear a few of these rings; recently I put them in a sonic cleaner and they cleaned up beautifully. I've tried to distribute the others among my female relatives but nobody likes them! I've told my daughter that if she waits enough years, they'll come back into fashion & she'll sell them for a fortune.