39:
130:, where its three pairs of standing female figures with wide, full-length skirts are standing in the innermost section with their feet pointing toward the hole, it is followed by a cable or rope pattern border, then a border of fifteen animals in profile with their feet also toward the central hole. After another rope border there is one of "cross-and-reel" or a four-pointed star motif, then a final rope border before a plain and smooth outer zone. This ringstone is more elaborate than most examples, which are often similar, but without the animal zone. The example found in Thailand has an animal border but no "cross-and-reel" or star border, whereas those in the
148:
51:
241:
164:
179:
27:
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bent knees pointing outward, and heels together, with jewelry and elaborate hairstyles, and trees separate them. Four-pointed stars are featured in motifs surrounding the rims of many of the stones. The women may be described as "goddesses", or "mother goddesses", and the trees, apparently of various species or apparently of palm species, may be described as the
195:
evidence to support that theory has very few surviving examples from ancient times. Although not favored by some scholars, this theory may have gained some ground following the 2014 discovery in
Thailand that was found near fragments of thin gold foil, one of which had an animal pattern very similar to that on the ringstone discovered at the same time.
254:
with mostly plant-based decoration that is not divided into narrow circular zones in the same way, and they have abstract designs or symbols. The illustrated example (right) has relatively simple decoration, with narrow tendril-like elements. Discstones usually are dated to the first century BCE.
253:
The ringstone tradition seems to have developed into the manufacture of the discstone, which is similar in shape, but having a flat top with a plain circular space in the center, rather than a hole that pierces the object. They also are manufactured in stone, but are not quite so precisely carved,
201:
has suggested that the ringstones might have been worn as jewellery, however, consensus exists among the other scholars that the ringstones are too heavy to have been worn. Others speculate that they may have been objects used in meditation, or somehow connected with fertility rituals. One scholar
118:
The designs vary, but all examples are finely carved, despite their small size. A number of components appear in a variety of arrangements. Typically the innermost zone, which runs down the sloping sides of the hole, has four standing female figures, many are nude "with fully exposed genitalia",
90:
Their purpose, and any practical function, remains unclear and "enigmatic". They may have had a specific religious purpose or a more general one such as promoting fertility. They may have been used to make components of jewelry by pressing metal foil over the designs. Approximately 70 have been
194:
Various purposes and uses for ringstones have been proposed, but without any theories gaining general acceptance. One suggestion is that they were matrices for moulding as jewelry created by beating thin sheets of metal, probably gold foil that always has been important in Indian culture, but
86:
on the top side that includes several zones of decoration surrounding a circular opening in the centre. Many feature a four-pointed star as a repeated border motif. They measure approximately 2.5 to 4 inches (64 to 102 mm) across the diameter.
42:
Detail of a complete ringstone having a central border with figures of women in full-length skirts separated by trees, a border motif of fifteen different animals, and a border motif of four-pointed stars,
178:
606:
147:
38:
163:
439:
610:
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A somewhat similar ivory disc with a central hole only has the standing figures of women in its single zone. It is dated to the second century BCE.
620:
233:. As they are easily portable and have very consistent characteristics, they all may have been made in a single centre, for which
205:
Some examples have brief and informal inscriptions on the blank obverse. As of 2019, they had not been translated or interpreted.
294:
394:
Lerner and Kossak, 48; V&A; Bennett (2019), 96; Siudmak; the first two interpreters speculate that the hairstyles are wigs.
634:
20:
213:
Apart from the recent Thai find, the findspots are distributed (such as
Mauryan territory) across north India, ranging from
82:, but with straighter outer edges and they are flat and plain on the obverse. They are carved out of stone, with very fine
669:
The Roots of Indian Art: Detailed Study of the
Formative Period of Indian Art & Architecture – 3rd & 2nd Century BC
706:
290:
274:
273:. Other large Indian museums also have examples. Several major museums outside India have examples, including the
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55:
31:
701:
138:
each have two of those, but no animals. In one example the animals in a border are "lizards or crocodiles".
78:(187–78 BCE). They are usually dated to the third or second centuries BCE. They are shaped somewhat like a
278:
154:
127:
110:
survey of 1980, at least 32 ringstones and 36 discstones were recorded; the numbers have continued to rise.
54:
Broken section of a ringstone with a woman in the characteristic posture, flanked by birds, probably geese,
44:
297:. A number are in private collections and at least three were up for sale on the art market in the 2010s.
696:
67:
644:
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even suggested without explanation that they might have been used as a "physical contraceptive device".
691:
664:
286:
107:
103:
30:"Ringstone with Four Goddesses and Four Date Palms" that has a four-pointed star motif in a border,
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96:
184:
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, with "Goddesses and Palm Trees" and four-pointed star motif
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237:(now Patna), the capital of the successive Mauryan and Sunga empires, is one obvious candidate.
50:
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The Lotus
Transcendent: Indian and Southeast Asian Art from the Samuel Eilenberg Collection
599:
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Lerner and Kossak, 48–50; V&A. They sometimes are called "ring stones" or "ring-stones"
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106:, who published an image of one in the late nineteenth century. By the time of the
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602:, David Owsley Museum of Art Collection, Ball State University (Ivory ring)
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and miniature sculpture made in India during the approximate period of the
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in London (holding the only example with a provenance, from Taxila), and
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In 2019, a contemporary report was published about a discstone found in
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Bennett (2017) (no details given as to how this might work)
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Lerner and Kossak, 48 (quoted); Bennett (2019), 99; V&A
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in the east. Most have been found in urban centres on the
123:, but these interpretations are not universally accepted.
615:
Bennett, Anna (2019), "Suvarnabhumi, "Land of Gold"", in
244:
Discstone, first century BCE, Metropolitan Museum of Art
169:"Goddesses", plants, and four-pointed star motif border
600:"Unidentified Artist, Northeast Indian (Sunga Dynasty)"
674:
Irwin, J., "Late
Mauryan or early Sunga ring-stones",
16:
Type of artefact and miniature sculpture made in India
671:, 1980 (includes a survey of all examples then known)
629:, 1991, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.),
91:found, many only as fragments, with a 2014 find in
385:Lerner and Kossak, 48; Bennett (2019), 96 (quoted)
645:Catalogue No. 5, "Indian and Himalayan Sculpture"
576:Bennett (2019), 96–98, 100–101 (with photographs)
269:The largest collection of ringstones is in the
99:; it is presumed this was imported from India.
331:Lerner and Kossak, 48; Bennett (2017); V&A
8:
585:Bennett (2019), 101 (all with John Siudmak)
522:Bennett (2019), 95; V&A; Bennett (2017)
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486:Lerner and Kossak, 48; Bennett (2017)
7:
676:Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
625:Lerner, Martin and Kossak, Steven,
607:"Sunga ringstone found in Thailand"
102:Ringstones were first described by
74:(c. 322–185 BCE) and the following
477:Bennett (2019), 99; Bennett (2017)
367:Bennett (2019), 95; Bennett (2017)
322:Lerner and Kossak, 50, their no. 4
313:Lerner and Kossak, 50, their no. 2
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95:being the first from outside the
295:Los Angeles County Museum of Art
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540:Lerner and Kossak, 50–51, no. 7
495:Lerner and Kossak, 48; V&A
468:Lerner and Kossak, 48; V&A
1:
617:Suvarnabhumi, the Golden Land
450:Lerner and Kossak, 49, no. 3
157:(detailed description above)
723:
678:, April 1951, pp. 1–3
291:Victoria and Albert Museum
275:Metropolitan Museum of Art
132:Victoria and Albert Museum
56:Metropolitan Museum of Art
32:Metropolitan Museum of Art
18:
459:Bennett (2019), 83–87, 99
209:Geographical distribution
66:is a distinctive type of
647:, 2016, Catalogue No. 2,
611:photos of lecture slides
549:Lerner and Kossak, 50–52
153:Complete example in the
19:Not to be confused with
513:Bennett (2019), 104-105
279:Cleveland Museum of Art
155:Cleveland Museum of Art
128:Cleveland Museum of Art
45:Cleveland Museum of Art
605:Bennett, Anna (2017),
277:in Manhattan (3), the
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403:Lerner and Kossak, 48
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219:Punjab (now Pakistan)
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287:Berlin State Museums
221:in the northwest to
104:Alexander Cunningham
440:British Museum page
199:Ananda Coomaraswamy
126:The example in the
97:Indian subcontinent
567:Bennett (2017), 95
558:Bennett (2019), 99
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707:Hardstone carving
637:, 9780870996139,
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659:Further reading
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21:ring of stone
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652:"Ring stone"
639:google books
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121:tree of life
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76:Sunga Empire
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692:Mauryan art
665:Gupta, S.P.
650:"V&A":
265:Collections
235:Pataliputra
108:S. P. Gupta
686:Categories
635:0870996134
593:References
289:, and the
249:Discstones
114:Decoration
58:(New York)
34:(New York)
285:(2), the
64:ringstone
598:"Ball",
93:Thailand
80:doughnut
68:artefact
531:V&A
421:Siudmak
259:Myanmar
217:in the
190:Purpose
633:
281:, the
215:Taxila
84:relief
301:Notes
227:Bihar
223:Patna
631:ISBN
430:Ball
134:and
62:The
621:PDF
688::
667:,
609:;
261:.
225:,
23:.
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