The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 24, 2024

Thumb Ring

Thumb Ring

1800s–mid-1900s
(1644-1911) or Republican period (1912-49)
white jade
Diameter: 3.1 cm (1 1/4 in.); Overall: 2.6 cm (1 in.)
Bequest of Cornelia Blakemore Warner 1947.546
Location: not on view

Description

Jade rings were worn by men on the thumb of the right hand to assist with holding and pulling the string of the archer’s bow. However, thumb rings were also fashionable accessories for civil officials in the late Qing dynasty.
  • ?-1947
    Mrs. Worcester R. [Cornelia Blakemore] Warner [1859-1947], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1947-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Facing the Ancestors: Chinese Portraits and Figure Painting – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 12, 2019-February 2, 2020).
  • {{cite web|title=Thumb Ring|url=false|author=|year=1800s–mid-1900s|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1947.546