the Plate.36*
In one of these (No. 2), with three coils, the erect head of the snake
with distended jaws is vividly-portrayed, making the ring a work of art
indeed, but arousing an instinctive repulsion in the beholder. The
other serpent ring constitutes a simple circlet, the head of the snake
overlapping the tail. As an example of artistic workmanship it fully
equals the larger ring, and may be considered better adapted for the
adornment of the hand, since the serpent nature is not so aggressively
presented.
Rings
of a quite unique type, that owes its origin to the great war and to
French skill and taste in adapting the most unpromising means to an
artistic end, are those made by French soldiers out of aluminum luses
taken from the bombs which their German foes have so liberally rained
upon them. At the outset the disks were first worked with scissors to
make rude rings for men's big fingers. Later on the well-furnished
tool-box of the machine-gun squad was called into requisition. This
early primitive type was soon abandoned, and in order to make rings of
the proper dimensions the metal from the German shells was fused and
run into ingots; the crucible was frequently one of the new iron
helmets, which was set on a wood fire that was kept going by a bellows
improvised from a bayonet sheath. However, the soldiers finally became
so reckless in their search for material that it was found necessary to
put a stop to this, after several had been shot by the enemy.
The
first models for the rings were made of wood or soft limestone. At a
more advanced stage, round bars were made, which were cut into sections
by means of the jagged edge of an old trench-spade. The smoothing off
sea From the collection of W. Gedney Beatty, New York City.
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