Images(2)

Shoe Buckles

Date1780-1790

OriginEngland

MediumBrass (XRF), Silver (XRF), Ferrous metals

Dimensions3 ¼ inches long 2 ¼ inches wide

Credit LineGift of the Valentine Museum, Richmond, VA

Object number2023-259,A&B

DescriptionMedium sized rectangular show buckles. The top side of the frame is faceted with two large bows on either side of the top center portion of the buckle. The chapes are made from iron and steel. The long tines that pierce through the buckle strap are reinforced with a central connecting bar. The tops of these buckles appear to have once been silvered.
Label TextMen and women fashionably wore shoe buckles from about the 1660s to the end of the 18th century. This pair of shoe buckles are made from a copper alloy with silvered applied to the just to the upper surface, making them appear as if they were true sterling.
ProvenanceOwned by Katherine Warwick Rusk [1912-1922] (Fairfax, VA); 1972, donated to The Valentine Museum (Richmond, VA); 2023, donated to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)