Description

Antique, Exquisite pair of Georgian black dot paste buckles mounted in silver, Circa 1740

A lovely pair of black dot, white paste shoe buckles with a double row of bright paste mounted in a silver frame. Believed to be French.

Each buckle measures 43.4 x 40 mm.

MEASUREMENTS: 43.4 x 40 mm
HALLMARKS: none – tested as silver (continental)
WEIGHT: 22.4 grams
CONDITION: Good, all of the paste are original (some discolouration on one or two of the paste, but nothing significant).
DATE: Georgian (1714 to 1837)

PRODUCT CODE: BK013

Antique Paste Jewellery
Paste is cut leaded glass that is faceted to resemble gems or precious stones. Often referred to as Strass (after Georges Frederic Strass), an 18th century Parisian jeweller. Strass became world famous for his paste jewellery after he was appointed jeweller to the King of France in 1734. He used a mixture of glass and lead that makes glass highly reflective and began mounting them in the most sumptuous of settings. The stones are coated with a metal coating or foiling, sometimes tinted, to make them even more brilliant and refractive. The mid and later 18th Century was awash with paste and even Marie Antoinette wore it copiously.