The Mountain Bear Carnelian Ring is a sterling silver band carved with a bear standing in a mountain landscape, set with a carnelian, the red-orange chalcedony that has been cut for seals and signets since antiquity. The animal is shown full-figure with the peaks worked in behind it rather than as a head or portrait alone.That whole-scene treatment is what marks the ring out: the bear is given ground to stand on, so the piece reads as a place as much as an animal. The bear stands for physical strength and for a temper best left alone, worn as a symbol rather than as a religious piece.
