Archer's Thumb Ring

Archer's thumb ring

Archer's Ring

Thumb Ring

Created by Reina Gattuso. In ancient times, Asian archers began wearing thumb rings in order to protect their skin from cuts from taut bowstrings. Artists made these rings out of materials including semi-precious stone, wood, bone, and leather.1 In Qing Dynasty China, early modern India, and the Ottoman Empire, elite archers favored jade.2 Jade archers’ rings became a fashion item among the courtly classes, meant to signify valor and prestige.3 Courtiers often wore the rings as pendants on a belt rather than on the thumb.4
 
In China, people considered jade a particularly significant and precious stone, associating it with virtue and immortality. Its substance is hard but luminous and quickly warms to the touch. Chinese intellectuals associated this combination of unyieldingness and radiance with moral purity.56 

Chinese jade archers’ rings tend to emphasize the material itself. Artists either left the jade unembellished or carved it in relief. Ottoman artists often embellished the thumb rings with gold. Indian artists decorated them with gold and precious jewels. 

The oldest ring in this collection dates back to the Eastern Zhou period in the 5th century BCE. The most recent is from the 20th century.
 
CITATIONS
 
1Fuxiang, Guo. “Emperor Qianlong’s Imperial Jade Archers’ Rings.” Arts of Asia, 2021, https://artsofasia.com/2021/10/01/emperor-qianlongs-imperial-jade-archers-rings/. Accessed 16 April 2022.
 
2“Emperor Qianlong’s Imperial Jade Archers’ Rings.” 
 
3“Archer’s Ring.” The Met, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/30264. Accessed 16 April 2022. 
 
4“Archer’s Thumb Ring.” The Walters Art Museum, https://art.thewalters.org/detail/36303/archers-thumb-ring/. Accessed 16 April 2022.
 
5“A Very Rare White Jade Arc-Shaped Pendant, Huang.” Christie’s, https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5875960. Accessed 16 April 2022. 
 
6Lyons, Elizabeth. “Chinese Jades.” Penn Museum, 1978, https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/chinese-jades/. Accessed 16 April 2022.

Jade Thumb Rings for Archers

About this Collection

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