Hi there
The finger on which a ring is worn has carried significance in many
cultures
All rings were once magical or sacred. Even gods wore rings;
Babylonian mythology is replete with stories of the rings of Shamas
and Marduk and fairy tales and folklore are full of stories of magical
rings. Rings have been uncovered in almost all archaeological digs of
note, going back as far as 100,000 years, and some of them have been
large enough to be considered by the experts to be thumb rings for men
Several reasons have been given for thumb ring usage by men in
historical times.
- Historically, there have been archers' thumb rings made by the
Chinese, Manchus, Indians, Turks, and Persians. They were worn on the
thumb of the left hand to protect it from injury by the bowstring
after the discharge of the arrow. In China, they eventually became the
insignia of military rank, and were of jade or a glass imitation of
jade. The tridition spread across the far east, and thumb rings became
like a badge of status - the bigger and more ornate they were, the
more powerful a man you were.
- in medieval Europe the thumb ring was often used as a "seal" ring,
as it could be made larger than rings for the other fingers and hold a
bigger, heavier seal for impressing on the hot wax.
- In the sixteenth century in Europe it was customary to assign rings
according to the work done by the wearer, and wearers of thumb rings
were known to be doctors. (This had the added benefit that you could
tell someone's general profession just by shaking their hand!)
- thumb rings even get their own Shakespeare quote "Hal, I could have
crept into any alderman's thumb-ring" brags Sir John Falstaff in Henry
IV (and I have found a citation that states that Shakespeare himself
wore a thumb ring, but that's outside the scope of your question)
- In India the larger thumb-ring or arsi with a circular mirror was
worn from the late 16th to the mid 18th century during the reign of
Shah Jahan as a symbol of opulence and other thumb-rings are shown in
art from the time, exquisetely carved in the finest examples of Mughal
Jewelled gold.
In palmistry the thumb is seen as the willpower finger. The Venus
Mount at the base of the thumb symbolizes vitality and sexuality. The
separation of the thumb from the rest of the fingers represents
mankind surrounded by the cosmos. So, to the "flower power" movement
in the Sixties, and through to the current "New Age" movement the
wearing a thumb ring emphasizes the insistance of freedom of thought
and action. The more prominently the thumbs are displayed, the more
important is independence and freedom. This probably explains the rise
in the wearing of them in recent times, and the often flamboyant
nature of the wearers.
The Thumb Ring Lovers Club
http://www.geocities.com/FashionAvenue/Salon/1660/trlc.html
A page on Ring Symbolism
Like a Cat Jewelry Arts and Crafts
http://www.likeacat.com/msg14.htm
An online store selling a huge variety of Thumb Rings
Thumb Rings by Chapmans
http://chapmanjewelry.com/Thumb_Rings/thumb_rings.html
Google Search Strategy
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22thumb+ring%22+symbolism
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22thumb+ring%22+history |
