Photos

Comments

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  Lynn Ardent November 16, 2014 at 3:50am

  Adding close up of the six-petal flower. 

  
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  Peter Hoesli November 16, 2014 at 8:27am

  Dear Lynn: This is a gorgeous piece! Congratulations! Peter
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  Betty November 16, 2014 at 1:01pm

  Fantastic find, Lynn! Congratulations.
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  Thelma November 18, 2014 at 3:06pm

  This is impressive Lynn. I don't think I have seen another belt buckle from Cyprus. Do you think it originated there or on the mainland? Fantastic shape of the central component and interesting that the other two components mirror that shape but horizontally. 
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  Lynn Ardent November 22, 2014 at 3:53am

  Hi Thema, I have no firsthand knowledge but the V&A states that it originated on the island.  Here is what they have to say:  "Cypriot clasps are part of the general Ottoman tradition, but are often more sophisticated and decorative than those from elsewhere. The goldsmiths of Cyprus were famous for their filigree although they rarely marked their work. This clasp was described as 18th century when it was acquired, and this may be true. It was bought in 1888, just after a terrible famine, when many people had to sell their family heirlooms to survive." 

  There is one buckle in their collection similar to this that was dated to 1730s-1750s by the tughras.  This one has markings but I will need an Ottoman reference to decipher them.  If anyone can date Ottoman silver markings I will take some more photos. 
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  Linda Pastorino December 13, 2014 at 4:27am

   This is a very beautiful example.  This is one that i thought was Armenian and worn and used by Jewish  clients. 
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  Linda Pastorino December 13, 2014 at 4:31am

   You can see the similarity and difference during these times however my thought is that mine also was either 17th or 18th c  it was very big and also had a type of paste like enameling like faience which looked very early.  I love the shapes of these buckles and the work in them .  What is the measurement of your belt?  The one i sold was very large , huge.  
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  Lynn Ardent December 14, 2014 at 3:30am

  Linda I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed this buckle.  I have seen the beautiful one that you sold and it was one of the pieces I studied when I tried to find attribution.  Yours may yet be Armenian as the filigree has some elements (like the leaves with granulation) that don't appear in anything that the V&A attributes as Cypriot.  But, there is definitely a connection.  Perhaps the ethnicity of the silversmiths.

  This buckle is 7" wide and 3.75" high.  The only one in the V&A that had marks for dating, dated to the 1730s.  So this buckle may be very old, and I imagine yours was even older.  Mine does have some faint marks, I will try to take a photo of them and post them.  I think I will have to find some serious reference material to date them unless someone here is an expert in old Ottoman silver marks.
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  Joost Daalder January 6, 2015 at 9:45pm

  A fabulous piece, Lynn. I thought it was yours at first, and have only just seen it is from the V&A but thank you for posting it! Absolutely top of the tree ...
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  Lynn Ardent January 6, 2015 at 9:51pm

  Thank you so much Joost. This one is mine. After I purchased it, I realized there was a near-identical one in the V&A which helped me identify it. This was originally gilded but the gilding is long gone. It was pure black when I purchased it and took me a week's worth of evenings to gently clean.