Pair of tortoiseshell (carey) bypass wrap rings (slender)
Entry/Object ID
2025.25.23
Description
Two hand-worked tortoiseshell finger rings: a slender narrow band with overlapping open ends (bypass/wrap form). Amber and brown; translucent figured carey.
Item Type
Ring
Collection
María Teresa Cornide Hernández collection
Acquisition
Accession
2025.25
Made/Created
Place
Country
Cuba
Region
Caribbean, Central America
Notes
Maker: Unidentified (artisanal tortoiseshell work); unmarked.
Date: Cannot be confirmed within 1959–1990 and may fall outside it. No marks or datable features. (Undatable.)
Place of Origin: Not marked. Carey work is a traditional Cuban craft; attribution rests on that tradition and provenance. (Tentative.)
Materials
Material
tortoiseshell
Material Notes
Materials: Tortoiseshell (carey) — hawksbill sea turtle shell (Eretmochelys imbricata), per the collector.
Technique: Strip heat-softened, coiled into a 1½-turn wrap with tapered overlapping ends, polished.
Condition
Overall Condition
Good
Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Maria T. Cornide Hernández
Notes
Purchased
Related Places
Place
City
Havana
Country
Cuba
Region
Caribbean, Central America
Notes
Purchase
Research Notes
Notes
Carey = hawksbill shell; CITES Appendix I (1977); legal Cuban hawksbill harvest until 2008. Full trade/transfer restrictions and the genuine-vs-imitation confirmation note per the carey earrings.
