Ingeborg Bratman’s family fled Nazi Germany and set up a textile business in Yorkshire in the 1940s. Ingeborg learned about the technical side of the textile industry and how to use dyes to colour fabrics. She retrained as a jeweller at Hornsey School of Art under Gerda Flockinger, then progressed to selling her jewellery through the London shop Cameo Corner. Her background in textiles and understanding of colour can be seen in this vivid tantalum ring.

Tantalum is a rare, hard, grey refractive metal which was discovered in 1802. It is more often used in industry than jewellery. Ingeborg Bratman began using it in the 1970s when she produced tantalum jewellery for a touring exhibition organised by Sarah Hosking of East Midlands Arts. Looking for an unusual metal to work with, Bratman collaborated with the industrial firm of Plessey who offered her advice on using tantalum and scrap from their processing plant. She was also able to use the argon gas chambers at BOC in order to weld the tantalum in an inert atmosphere. The natural blue/ grey colour of the metal was transformed through anodisation, a process in which a high voltage produces bright colours.