For Lack of Clothing…
From the Indus Valley Civilization–circa 3000 B.C.–to the
present, love of jewelry pervaded Indian customs. Because of the
climate, the Indians of that day and forward, decked themselves
with ornaments rather than heavy clothing.
They wore fanlike plumes for the head, and V shaped fillets of
gold with holes for hanging pendants. They wore carnelian
hairpins and ivory pinheads. They wore golden earrings. They
wore beads of agate, and jasper, and chalcedony. The jewelers of
the day had the knowledge and skills required for melting, and
refining, and drawing wire…more often than not working with
gold. They understood enameling, and faceting, and the polishing
of stones.
Time passed…and their ornamentations grew. 450 B.C. Nepal. The
jewelry relics found, along with the relics of Buddha, consisted
of flowers of gold, beautifully designed. And with these relics
were also beads of semi-precious stones, coral, and pearls,
there for the purpose of protecting the relics from evil eyes.
Ahh, my friends, never underestimate the power of stone. And lest
you think beads are only for purposes of decor, think again.
Forward we go again. 100 B.C. to A.D. 100. More stuff with which
to cover the body. Who needed clothing? There wore necklaces of
round and cubical beads of gold. They hung about their necks
twisted gold wire serpents. They wore crystal and amethyst and
agate and jade. They wore crescent shaped earrings…all gold.
Oh, it was never ending. Ear tops, and bangles, and finger rings.
Amulets and gems, and, believe it or not, golden safety pins.
Hey, you were never too young to start.
1200 A.D. Muslims invade from the north. They’re not used to
jewelry. But the weather…phew…it’s hotter’n…hotter’n…
well…it’s hot. So they discard their overcoats, and put on
some muslin shirts, and a few chains of gold, just to be in
fashion.
Finger rings became prominent. One for the pinky, one for the
thumb, one for the middle finger, so’s we don’t all feel glum.
Well…it’s not quite poetry…but it’s the best I got in me
right now. I’ll make it up to y’all by putting up a graphic.
How’s that?
If we shoot forward to the 17th century, we find thumb rings
were quite popular. They were often studded with cabochon style
stones of rubies and emeralds, set in tooled and enameled gold.
I have a picture of one, belonging to one of the Moguls of the
time. It’s stunning. Go take a look.
To my home page! Down the table menu. To Tidbit Graphics, and
click on Mogul’s Thumb Ring.
And there ya have it.
That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark
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