A gold and onyx repoussé ring Champa, 14th century | 十四世紀 占城 金嵌縞瑪瑙戒指

From the 2nd century through to the 15th century, the Champa Empire flourished in present-day central and southern Vietnam. As a result of the region being divided by numerous rivers and separated by mountains, Champa was not a unified kingdom but rather a coalition of polities whose power waxed and waned. The Champa empire borrowed heavily from Indian culture and religion, even adopting Sanskrit as its sacred language. In Sanskrit, Champa is the name of a bush and a flower.

Maritime trade was the primary source of income for the seafaring Cham; many also earned a living through farming, silk weaving, and gold jewellery crafting. From the 10th century onwards, Arab merchants stopped along the Vietnamese coast en route to China, bringing an increased Islamic cultural and religious influence.

As seen in this exquisite group of 14th-century Champa gold rings in the collection, each ring is set with a precious stone in a high collet, decorated with intricate repoussé work on the shanks and engraved with a four-petaled lotus motif on the reverse. Each piece shows considerable Arabic artisanal influence.

This group of gold jewellery remains as evidence of this once great civilization before its fall to northern Vietnamese invaders in the 15th century. 

占城為中南半島古國，為今越南中南部。唐代以前，中國古籍稱為林邑，唐代史籍稱環王國，五代十國後稱占城。占城肇建於二世紀，覆亡於十五世紀，國祚超過一千六百年。

由於占城的河流眾多，縱橫交錯，加上高山林立，本土地理位置使占城的權力相對分散，地方勢力盛衰無常。占城深受印度的文化及信仰影響，更參照了梵文創立了獨有的文字。「占城」在梵文便是「邑」、「城」的意思。

占族人的主要收入來自海上貿易、次要收入則來自畜牧、絲綢紡織及珠寶製作。自十世紀開始，占族人與阿拉伯商貿頻密，大大受到伊斯蘭教文化的影響。部份族人亦由婆羅門教改信伊斯蘭教。

雪月收藏中包括一組十四世紀戒指，工巧精緻，實屬占城金器之至臻典範。每枚戒指皆鑲嵌寶石，柄飾別緻花紋，背刻四瓣蓮紋，反映著當時占城與阿拉伯文化的交流，及古國權傾一時之​景。