FORMS OF RINGS AND MATERIALS 109
diameter of about 2.3 centimetres, the width of the band being 1.4 centimetres. Apparently some accident befell the original ring, causing part of the brittle material to chip off, for in the section that has been preserved a piece of jet, as wide as the band and 9 millimetres across, has been inlaid in the body of the ring. This was cut away to a depth of a millimetre, and the concave-convex inlay was then glued on.66
The gold-plating of bronze rings dates back to the Mycenœan period, and Ionic silver rings with gold plating were made in the sixth century b.c. ; Cypriote bronze rings of about the third century b.c. have also been found. Where, as in many cases, mere gilding has been resorted to, only traces of this may remain after the lapse of centuries.67 We note elsewhere the gold-plated iron rings worn by some Roman slaves to evade the penalty imposed upon those who illegally wore gold rings.
Glass rings are frequently made at Murano and other places in Italy of the so-called " gold stone," aventurine, or Venice gold stone. They are very inexpensive and are generally worn by children or young girls. Mosaic rings are those in which the upper part of the ring contains either a Byzantine mosaic made up of colored glass or other material, or a Florentine mosaic, in which shell, marble and other materials are set in slate or marble settings.
garnet rings are generally made of facetted, rose cut, or cabochon cut , set usually in 8 to 14
66 George H. Pepper, " The Exploration of a Burial Room in Pueblo Bonito, New Mexico," Putnam Anniversary Volume, New York, 1909, p. 244, fig. 7.
βτ F. H. Marshall, " Catalogue of the Finger Rings, Greek, Etruscan and Roman, in the . . . British Museum," London, 1907, p. xxxii.
