Old indian sword Help with ring
 

early indian swords,first 3 picture museum india fourth pic from my collection.

The ring that is around the blade near the guard what is its purpose?The ring does move but will not go past the rivet.first picture shows museum display 3 of the 7 swords had the ring.I asked the expert at the museum about the ring he did not know its purpose.

At first I thought it could be part of the scabbard,but the blade gets wide at the tip,Not sure if this type of sword had scabbard .Could the ring be a way to clip on to a belt.

Any thoughts?

Hello Edward,
Its an interesting question you ask. When seeing the pictures you show it is a bit difficult to imagine whar the ring is for - as it can be moved.
Have a look at this detail, here the sword of the god has two rings, and to me it looks as if they are there to secure the blade.
The details of this figure I have had for nine years, so I don't remember much about the deity itself, other than it is gilded bronze and 16th to 17th century.
So why the ring on the swords you show are loose I cant tell, but early th erings seem to have been a support for the blade.
The deity is, if I remember correctly from Nepal.
Jens

Jens - Is that sculpture yours? If so, and if it's not asking too much, would you post a photo of the sculpture shown in your last post in its entirety?

It looks stunning... :)

Cheers,
Chris

I tried to clean up the image a bit since it was so nice and yes...the glass is that dirty, someone needs to wipe it off, what a shame.