Thumb ring, gold set with rubies and emeralds and enamelled on the inner surface. Mughal, c. 1610-20

Gold filled with lac (a natural resin). Set with rubies and emeralds, and chased on the outer surface; enamelled in champleve on the inner surface (in opaque turquoise, pale green, white and black).

Purchased from Miss Dulce D. B. Barrington

'Received from Miss Dulce D.B. Barrington c/o the Lady Coleridge. 1920/5401' in 1920.
The Nominal File has no information concerning Miss Barrington, nor on where she may have acquired the ring. The minute written by Caspar Stanley Clarke to support its acquisition notes:

Description:-
Archer's Thumb-ring (angushtana), also called "Bow-ring" of high-standard or soft gold; jewelled with 149 rubies (6 cabochon of fair size, 115 small ditto, 15 carved lasques, and 13 small ditto) and 15 small cabochon emeralds; and enamelled (champleve process) within the hoop, with opaque blue, white and green enamels on a black ground. The jewels arranged in Mogul conventional design of birds and flowers; the enamels forming an Indo-Saracenic symmetrical pattern.
Made by an Imperial court Jeweller at Delhi, Panjab, between the years 1605 and 1658, either in the reign of Jahangir or that of Shah Jahan, and formerly the property: (a) either )or both of these emperors; (b) or of one of the royal princes.[C.S.C. 7.VIII.20]

Director/ for sanction to purchase the above @ £25. The price is absurdly cheap. Ex the "Akbar Spoon", we possess nothing of this nature in the collection of Mogul 16th and 17th centry jewellery. Without exaggeration, it is the finest Mogul ring I have ever seen - and in the Sale Room would probably command a very high price'
C. Stanley Clarke. 7.VIII.20'

The supposed provenance is very likely, though there is no direct evidence. The quality of the stones and workmanship, combined with the fact that thumb rings were emblems of kingship at the Mughal court, does suggest it was made in the court workshops and was likely to have been made for the emperor or one of his sons. On stylistic grounds it may be dated to Jahangir's reign and to about 1620-30. It would probably have been made in Agra rather than Delhi.
It seems likely that the vendor was Miss Dulce Dolores Bainbridge Barrington. [SS 20/01/2020]

Purchased from Miss Dulce D. B. Barrington, c/o The Lady Coleridge. 36 Hyde Park Gate, S.W.7.

R.P. 1920-5401

The high quality of this thumb ring strongly suggests that it was a courtly piece. Similar rings are seen in portraits of the Mughal emperors Jahangir and Shah Jahan and their sons in court paintings of about 1610-1620. It is one of a small group of objects using the same technique of setting rubies and emeralds (and in some of the group, minute diamonds) in dense patterns against a ground of chased gold, all dating to about the same period. The thumb ring is enamelled on the inside, as is often the case with Mughal jewellery. Here, however, the motifs and colours of the enamel are strikingly European and this may suggest that the enamelling was done by a European craftsman at the Mughal court, of whom there were a small number at this time. Augustin Hiriart of Bordeaux, for example, produced designs for thrones for Jahangir and Shah Jahan, and was a skilled enameller.

IM.207-1920