Pair Of Woman's Matching Finger Rings (Garakji)
date: label: Accession Date
content: 24 Feb 1886
name: label: Donor Name
content: Ensign U S N John B. Bernadou
notes: label: Notes
content: "Late 19th century. Pewter. These rings were worn by commoners as a pair on one finger. Finger rings were gold, silver, nickel, cloisonne, amber, coral, agate, or jade. Metal rings can be with ornamentation, such as incised or enameled bats or flowers, or without ornamentation. Undecorated rings were usually worn by older women, while colorful types like cloisonne rings were designed for young ladies; especially brides (DHM ('Doseol Hanguk oegyo-sa yeonpyo' or The Folkcrafts of Korea), 1980: 166; Kim, 1988b: 450-451 for methods of decoration, decorative design motifs, and customs relating to age; Seok, 1981: 95-98, 170, illustration numbers 79-82; Jang, 1999: 128-131). Materials of rings distinguish not only the wearer's social status, but seasons, outings and special occasions. Metal rings are for winter. Rings as gifts, memorials, commemoratives, and for friendship are symbolic: a circle without end is eternal. Bernadou demurs slightly: "... finger rings. Of pewter or silver; rarely gold. Are worn in pairs. Such rings are worn both by married and single women and have no significance" (Bernadou Field Notes 139). Collected in Seoul. Ref: Hough Korean Catalog p. 450; Bernadou Field Notes 139" [from: "An Ethnography of the Hermit Kingdom: The J.B. Bernadou Korean Collection 1884-1885", Chang-su Cho Houchins, 2004, number 37]
label: Record Last Modified
content: 11 Mar 2024
label: Specimen Count
content: 2
place: label: Place
content: Korea, Asia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Not Given
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 016970
label: USNM Number
content: E77109-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Ring
physicalDescription: label: Diameter
content: 2.45 cm