Ganesha Signet Ring 'Shoten'

Signet ring with a seated elephant-headed god on an oval face and lettered shoulders

The remover of obstacles, on a signet. This ring carries the seated elephant-headed god on its oval face, in relief on a darkened ground, with Sanskrit lettering and scroll patterns carved down both shoulders and a plain polished band beneath. He is the god of beginnings and of the way being cleared, and he travelled from India to Japan with Buddhism and stayed.

It is the signet in the collection with the most carving on its shoulders, and the face is the size of a thumbnail.

The name, Shoten, is the Japanese name for him, the elephant-headed one honoured in the esoteric temples, and the ring is his.

The ring is stainless steel, cast in one piece, the face about 16 by 13 mm, the god in relief and the ground darkened, the shoulders carved and darkened to match. The band is polished.

Wear it on the ring or little finger of either hand, as a signet, and on its own. It goes with a plain outfit and it goes with the sukajan in the range, and it is a ring that people ask about.

The lettering on the shoulders is the detail: each side carries a column of Sanskrit and a scroll, so the ring reads from the side as well as from the front. The god is seated with his trunk curled and his hands holding his attributes.

From across a table it is a silver signet with a dark oval. From close the oval shows the figure, the shoulders their lettering, and the band its polish. It is the ring for someone starting something.

Every ring in the collection is photographed on the same pale ground at the same scale, so the pages compare with each other: what looks big here is big on the hand. The measurements given are taken across the face, not round the finger.

Steel does not tarnish, does not turn a finger green and does not mind water, so this ring can be worn in the shower and the sea and wiped dry after. A soft cloth is all the care it needs; the darkened recesses are a finish, not dirt, and they stay.

Sizes are given as the inside circumference in millimetres: 56, 59, 62, 65, 68, 70. Wrap a strip of paper round the finger where the ring will sit, mark where it meets, and measure the strip flat. If you are between two sizes and the ring is wide, take the larger; a wide band needs more room than a thin one.