Parcel Gilded Silver Buckle

This belt buckle is very much in the Ottoman and Ottoman Greek style, a style that was also worn in the Ottoman Balkans. Ottoman empire rulers and warriors wore belts and elaborate, over-sized buckles as symbols of their power and rank. The fashion for such ostentatious belts was largely over by the mid-19th century.

Formed as two circular bosses of slightly domed plain silver sheet overlaid with gilded silver filigree and chased strap work, each half of the buckle is further decorated with a raised central roundel, and surrounding applied filigree spangles.

A central roundel that hides the latch mechanism s similarly decorated.

The buckle is decorative and in fine condition. One decorative applied spangle appears to be a replacement. There is minor age and use-related denting and so on, but all acceptable and appropriate given the item’s use and age. There are no obvious maker’s or assay marks.