Tortoiseshell (carey) band ring

Jewelry

Archive of Cuban Socialism

Name/Title

Tortoiseshell (carey) band ring

Entry/Object ID

2025.25.17

Description

Single wide band ring of dark tortoiseshell — a thick, rounded (domed) hoop, deep brown with translucent amber-toned passages where the shell thins. One-piece form; the bore shows fine concentric tooling marks from working.

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. Tortoiseshell (carey) work is a traditional Cuban craft; Cuban attribution rests on that tradition and on provenance, not on any mark. (Tentative.)

Materials

Material

tortoiseshell

Material Notes

Materials: Tortoiseshell (carey) — hawksbill sea turtle shell (Eretmochelys imbricata), per the collector's identification. Technique: Solid tortoiseshell carved/turned (or heat-laminated and shaped) into a one-piece band, then polished; interior retains tooling marks.

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 sea turtle shell; CITES Appendix I since 1977, with Cuba permitting a legal hawksbill harvest until 2008. The full trade/transfer restrictions and the genuine-vs-imitation confirmation note recorded for the carey earrings apply here too — cross-referenced rather than repeated.

Created By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Create Date

May 24, 2026

Updated By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Update Date

June 14, 2026