Images(2)

Shoe Buckles

Date1795-1805

OriginEngland; worn in Scotland, Strathclyde, Renfrew, Paisley, Abbey

MediumPaste stones (glass), silver alloy, ferrous metals

DimensionsLength: 3 ½ inches Width: 2 ½ inches

Credit LineGift of the Valentine Museum, Richmond, VA

Object number2023-250,A-C

DescriptionVery large shoe buckles set with paste stones. The buckle is created with a large central stone with four smaller stones set in each corner. The chapes are missing from the buckle, but the iron or steel bar remains across the center of the buckle.

The buckles survive with their original shagreen covered paste board case, lined with printed paper, with silk and wool cushions.
Label TextMen and women fashionably wore shoe buckles from about the 1660s to the end of the 18th century. These buckles with their paste stones would have shined when attending social events by candle light.
MarkingsNo Marks
ProvenanceWorn by George Gibson (1738-1817) [Paisley, Scotland]; probably descended to his son Patrick Gibson (1773-1827)[Richmond, Va]; probably descended to his son Churchill Jones Gibson (1819-1892)[Richmond, Va]; probably descended to his son Robert Atkinson Gibson (1846-1919)[Richmond, Va]; descended to Churchill Jones Gibson (1885-1970)[Richmond, Va); 1962 given to The Valentine Museum [Richmond, Va]; 2023 given to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.