Images(2)

Shoe Buckle

Date1785-1795

OriginEngland

Mediumcopper alloy, silver plating (xrf), ferrous metals, glass, other metal

DimensionsLength 3 ½ inches Width 1 ½ inches

Credit LineGift of the Valentine Museum, Richmond, VA

Object number2023-248,3

DescriptionLong rectangular buckle with three rows of decorations going around the rim with four large stones set in the middle of each side. The inner and outer rows of decoration are made of small paste stones with the middle row created with the caste buckle. Three of the four blue paste stones are now missing. The tines of the chapes have a reinforcement bar in the shape of a heart.
Label TextMen and women fashionably wore shoe buckles from about the 1660s to the end of the 18th century. Set with clear and colored paste stones, this buckle would have been extremely reflective during the day and night.
ProvenanceOwned by Mary Greenhow Johnston [1881-1961] (Richmond, VA); 1958, given to The Valentine Museum (Richmond, VA); 2023, given to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)