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An iconic piece of a belt.
A nice addition to your masterfully constructed belt collection Peter!
fantastic piece. Museum sort of treasure. Congratulations Peter for this fancy belt.. This is a very addition to the many belts you have in your great collection.
Hi Peter, - A nice example. Most of these belts appear to have been made in western Thrace, but not all. I have just posted one on Facebook which is known to have been made in north eastern Greece/Thrace, with even the specific town mentioned: https://www.facebook.com/ethnicjewelleryandadornment/photos/a.36592.... The present name of that town is Alexandroupoli. They are certainly quite "regional" belts, appearing in Bulgaria, Greece "proper" and Thrace. A question: isn't the main metal component in your piece bronze or brass? All the examples I have seen use such a metal for most of the manufacture, even if silver is also used. I do like your piece very much. As you say, it is huge! I also like the colouring.
Dear Peter, I just love this belt. A spectacular and iconic piece. The enameling and gilding are particularly well preserved.
Within the next few months, I am going to try to take some Greek / Bulgarian pieces with these kinds of silver-colored metal elements to be tested by an XRF analyzer for metal content. I am very curious as to whether it is a true brass or a low silver.
A good idea, Lynn. In addition to the belt which we have of this type, which is extremely thick and heavy and seems to us to be mainly made of a base metal for the essential structure, we also have bracelets (and perhaps one or two other pieces) from the region (usually classified as Bulgarian). Not one looks to us as though the heavy metal used is in any sense silver. Sellers did not think so either, but if the alloy DOES contain silver, of course we shall be very happy to revise our view!! So I shall await the outcome with enormous interest and anticipation. It is not uncommon for silver "panels" to be attached, or other additions. And what intrigues me in the case of this beautiful belt of Peter's is that the front piece, at least, looks as though it could indeed be made of a (low) grade silver (i.e., perhaps the whole front piece was cast). So possibly, too, the situation varies from piece to piece. Thanks for your comment and initiative. I feel quite "involved", which is partly why I raised the question - previously I had not really given this rather important matter any real thought.
For those specifically interested in these belts and related items: I have recently posted this belt and two others (including one of our own) on the Facebook page "Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment". I have not re-posted other pieces of this kind such as bracelets, but posted many in the past, and there are also several here on "ethnic jewels". I note that you had already spotted the FB belts, Lynn - always full of initiative as you are!!
https://ethnicjewels.ning.com/photo/bulgarian-belt-front. This is a very different type, posted by Linda Pastorino, but made up of solid, thick components that I would have thought are most likely not silver - the piece would have cost a significant amount of money if that metal was used, and even in wealthier societies the metal would rarely be that thick.
Dear Joost, I love Linda's belt and I am glad you are interested in the puzzle of the metal content here! There is coinage from this period assayed at 20% silver, which I have, and have polished rather beautifully. My hypothesis is that some of these Bulgarian and Greek pieces are made from this debased silver coinage, and hence is in the range of 20%-40% content. I don't think that the secret of paktong/German silver had reached the Balkans in the 1700s and 1800s. My understanding is that it was a Big Deal when Germany began producing "German silver" and it did not reach large quantities until the 19th century and also must have been a closely guarded trade secret. So I suspect silver content in early Balkan pieces which are silvery, and Bulgarian eBay sellers have claimed 20% and 30% content. I now have an excuse to travel for work to a location that has a shop with an XRF analyzer, so in the next few months I expect to investigate scientifically. :)
Some of the pieces we have ourselves, Lynn - I am thinking particularly of bracelets - don't have a silvery look at all, as far as the basic structure is concerned, so perhaps in some cases just a base metal was used, in essence, whereas in other instances it may well have been a lower grade silver. It will be very interesting to hear what you find out! I agree there would be no question of Alpaca, as the Germans call their version of paktong. That actually looks rather silvery, but as you say does not fit the dates of the pieces we are discussing.
Actually, Lynn and Peter and others, I need to modify what I said earlier. On our own Greek belt, https://www.facebook.com/ethnicjewelleryandadornment/photos/a.36592..., the pieces at the back are of course silver (they are all separate). It is the piece at the front that is bronze. The trouble is that one should not generalise! Looking at Peter's piece again, I wonder whether the construction is the same?? Pieces of silver all round, at least? And the top of the piece at the front also looks as though that part may be silver.
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