This project was done in collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, who gave us access to their collection of Nubian rings. A HUGE thanks to Rita Freed for making all this possible. Also a big thanks to Alexander Stover for being the inspiration behind this project. 

After combing through a large collection of rings and fragments and exploring the vast diversity of this ring style, instead of creating a composite design, we decided to replicate three exactly. These three, represent the diversity of the style, in order of left to right. The first, ring C, is very wide, but of a comparatively reasonable height. The second, ring A, is the most "normal" of the three, being fairly similar in size to a Manchu ring and the one we strongly recommend. It represents a very modestly proportioned example of the breed. The third, ring B, is tall and covers quite a lot of the thumb. In Mr. Stover's experiments, this is the one he preferred. 

These rings represented a novel challenge. We wanted to replicate, not just the shapes, but also the surface textures and relative absorptivity, to make rings as close as possible in function to the originals. This began the quest which ultimately resulted in our addition of biocomposite to the product lineup. 

We wanted something which would offer, not just a very aggressive texture, but some ability to absorb sweat to maintain traction on your thumb. We tested a lot of different options to reach this material. To be clear, this biocomposite has no relation to any Csaba Grozer products of similar name. This is a cellulosic lignin biopolymer composite. PLEASE NOTE our biocomposite material is a natural product, and so colors may vary.

How do these rings work you might ask? Technically nobody really knows, and that is the fun of experimental archaeology. From what little information available, we gather the rings likely have their thin ends toward the thumb tip. Our experiments suggest that they do NOT behave like Qing Dynasty Manchu rings, as the release angles are both fairly consistent across the style and wrong for that type of release. 

We size all our rings on a virtually continuous spectrum for a perfect fit. No longer do you have to live with set sizes made for a hypothetical thumb. Measuring your thumb accurately though is still difficult, which is why we strongly recommend our customers find their size with a Manchu Ring set, or at bare minimum the Manchu Ring Sizer, prior to ordering a Nubian ring. More information can be found by clicking the Sizing Information link on the banner at the bottom of the the page.