This ring I picked up at an estate sale has me really baffled. I have been researching this for nearly 2 months now and I still don't know diddly squat about it. I really hope someone here can begin to give me a clue as to at least the age of the ring. Basically it is a hand carved dragon head or kirin head ring. I am assuming it is asian in origin. I can find nothing like it anywhere on the internet.....and I have put in at least 40+ hours total researching the net. So I am assuming that this item is like a netsuke, a one of a kind....the whimsey of a talented carver. While it is driving me crazy to at least find out if the ring is an antique, it is really puzzling me on what exactly the function of this ring was. The hole that you put your finger through is not round.....it is an oval shape. I wear a size 6 on my ring finger and it fits comfortably side to side, but since it is oval shaped, there is quite a gap from top to bottom....plus behind the dragon's eye/nose area, it has been more deeply carved. The construction of those things together...the oval and divit, is not unlike some examples of asian archer's rings or thumb rings. But, I have not found any type of archer ring that would be this elaborate. I don't know....as you can tell, I am pretty clueless. I'm not concerned about value of this ring....I would just like ANY kind of history about the age or era it was made, if it is Japanese or Chinese or what, and if it has any sort of function. The ring is actually a darker color in person, more of a blackish brown. When it is held up to strong light you can see it has some transluscence with varying shades of brown. The face is an inch wide and an inch tall. From the front of the face to the back of the ring band it is a little over 1 1/2 inches. I did a hot pin test on the inside of the band portion and it gave off a strong smell of burnt hair.
