Thumb Ring (1736–95): Art, History and Details

Thumb Ring (1736–95) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Jade rings were worn by men on the thumb of the right hand to assist with holding and pulling the string of the archer’s bow. However, thumb rings were also fashionable accessories for civil officials in the late Qing dynasty.

Object facts

• Title: Thumb Ring
• Date: 1736–95
• Culture: China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong reign (1736–95)
• Type: Jade
• Technique: jade
• Dimensions: Diameter: 2.9 cm (1 1/8 in.); Overall: 3 cm (1 3/16 in.)
• Collection: China - Qing Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1970.142

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. John Lyon Collyer in memory of her mother, Mrs. G. M. G. Forman

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1970.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 58, no. 2, 1971, pp. 22–71.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.