While serving in the Peace Corps in the 1960s, Martin Puryear learned carving and carpentry techniques from craftspeople near the remote African village where he was stationed. Later, while studying in Sweden, he also learned Scandinavian carpentry techniques. This work is one of the last of approximately forty "rings" Puryear made throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s. Made primarily of laminated strips of wood, these roughly circular works maintain a ceremonial and symbolic presence, as if they were enlarged talismans, amulets, or trophies.