western zhou thumb ring

[Justin Ma]

I recall Bede's 2001 article about Early Chinese thumb rings ( http://www.atarn.org/chinese/thumbrings ... _rings.htm ) mentioned the absence of Western Zhou rings from the archaeological record. So it was kind of cool to stumble upon the following article about a 2005 excavation of a Western Zhou (1046--771 BC) tomb --- specifically, from a Marquis of Jin (probably Marquis Li of Jin, who died in 859 BC?) in Quwo, Shanxi. http://www.friendsofjade.org/current-ar ... -2006.html

The thumb ring in question is the red ring. http://www.friendsofjade.org/storage/nara25.jpg (Found by doing an image search for "tang dynasty thumb ring", oddly enough.) To me, the Quwo ring looks like a transition between the Shang dynasty Fu Hao ring (circa 1200 BC) and the Eastern Zhou / Warring States period (770--256 BC). The Quwo ring has a Taotie as well as two small holes in the back like the Shang ring. However, it has a sloped, lipped design like the Warring States rings. Without seeing the outside/front part of the ring, it's hard to tell whether there was an explicit string groove (like the Shang ring), or whether the lip surface was concave (like the Warring States rings).

Does anyone have photos of the ring from other angles? Or is someone in the area able to examine the ring in person and take photos?

[Stephen Selby]

I believe that this one is not later than mid Spring and Autumn period - that is, not differing from the excavated one by more than a couple of hundred years. It is in my collection.