Skip Navigation

Signet Ring Bearing Cartouche of Tutankhamun

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Rings

The earliest Egyptian rings were purely decorative, but later rings came to carry significance.


By the Eighteenth Dynasty of the New Kingdom, they were frequently inscribed with the name of a god, a king, or the owner. The most popular type was made of faience and bore the name of the reigning monarch. Archaeologists have discovered thousands of these simple, mold-made rings; they were probably distributed as mementos at religious or state celebrations. Other rings feature protective symbols, including the wedjat-eye. Wealthy members of Eighteenth Dynasty society often wore rings made of inlaid glass or semiprecious stones.
MEDIUM Faience
  • Reportedly From: Thebes, Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1329–1322 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 18
    PERIOD New Kingdom
    DIMENSIONS 13/16 × 1/2 × 3/4 in. (2 × 1.2 × 1.9 cm) mount: 7/8 × 1/2 × 1 1/2 in. (2.2 × 1.3 × 3.8 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 37.889E
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    PROVENANCE Thebes, Egypt, archaeological provenance not yet documented; by 1852, acquired in Egypt by Henry Abbott; 1859, purchased from Henry Abbott by the New-York Historical Society, New York, NY; 1937, loaned by the New-York Historical Society to the Brooklyn Museum; September 1948, purchased from the New-York Historical Society by the Brooklyn Museum.
    Provenance FAQ
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Bright blue glazed faience signet ring inscribed for Tutankhamun. The bezel is oval-shaped and made separately in an open mold. The glaze does not cover a large part of the center of the underside of the bezel. Condition: Dark incrustation – especially in the hieroglyphs; otherwise good.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Signet Ring Bearing Cartouche of Tutankhamun, ca. 1329–1322 B.C.E. Faience, 13/16 × 1/2 × 3/4 in. (2 × 1.2 × 1.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.889E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.889E_erg456.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, CUR.37.889E_erg456.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 9/6/2007
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.