Densely ornamented, the hoop of rounded section widens at the shoulders to support a prominent domed cluster bezel set with a central ruby-pink cabochon within a beaded collet. Surrounding it are multiple smaller circular cabochons of purple hue, each individually collet-set and framed by delicate filigree scrollwork, the composition flanked by projecting makara heads.
The shoulders and sides are worked in similar fashion, with additional cabochon stones set in circular collets, interspersed with fine granulation and tightly coiled filigree, creating a richly textured and architectonic surface. The inlaid stones are almandine garnets, tourmalines and rubies.

Provenance: From a private collection in Bergamo, Italy. Leonardo Vigorelli, Bergamo, Italy, acquired from the above. Leonardo Vigorelli, a retired Italian art dealer and renowned collector, once specialized in African and ancient Hindu-Buddhist art. With a background in anthropology and decades of travel and field research across India, the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, and Africa, he founded the prestigious Dalton Somaré art gallery in Milan, now managed by his two sons.
Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear and manufacturing irregularities.

Weight: 50 g
Dimensions: Maximum width 4.2 cm

From the early kingdoms of Southeast Asia, jewelry offers not only beautiful adornment, but also an art form that bears testimony to significant developments and beliefs of the ancient world. Gold, in particular, was a sacred material used to sanctify temples, to express beauty, to signify connections with divinity, and to honor the dead.

For as long as civilization has existed, humans have adorned themselves. Starting with shells, stones and bones, the love of jewelry evolved with the discovery of rare and precious materials all the way to the engineered diamonds of today. Gold jewelry, in particular, carried heavy significance in Asian civilizations. The meanings different cultures assigned to jewelry have been as varied as the designs they produce and the materials they use. Yet they are unified in the instinct to express beauty, nobility, and divinity.

Golden objects accentuate the attributes of the wearer, and their designs express a culture’s aesthetic sense. Ancient jewelry in Southeast Asia were worn by both female and male deities, queens and kings, and women and men alike. Body objects designed to accentuate beauty and status may often be highly suggestive with meanings associated with fertility, eroticism, and creative power.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related Thai gold ring with rubies and diamonds, dated 1700s, in the Worcester Art Museum, object number 1924.135. Compare a related Khmer gold and tumbled crystal ring, dated Angkor period, 9th-13th century, 1.9 cm wide, illustrated by Susan Ollemans in Ancient Gold Rings from Asia, The Tuyet Nguyet Collection, Arts of Asia, July-August 2017, pl. 10.