Beschreibung:

The Buckle Collection of a North Shore Lady Every now and again, a collection surfaces that makes one re-appraise at the whole endeavour of the art of collecting and appreciate afresh the drive and dedication, the fever and curiosity it takes to create a great collection. And so it is with the buckle collection of a Lady from Sydney’s North Shore. Australia’s leading buckle expert has put this collection together over the last 60 years. By virtue of the rarity of a buckle collection, it is arguably one of the leading buckle collections in the world. There are over two hundred buckles in the collection, the earliest piece dating from the 17th century. Many were sourced from the Portobello Markets in London in its heyday in the 1970’s, from a treasure trove of Australian antique stalls, fairs, auctions and from travels internationally. A selection of buckles on display at the V & A in London lacked by comparison. The collectors knowledge of silver led her famously to have a pair of buckles purporting to be those belonging to Captain Cook to be removed in 2013 from the Heritage Collection of the NSW State Library, after identifying the makers hallmarks of 1795 when Cook was in fact killed in 1776. Recently she exhibited to members of the Embroiderer’s Guild of NSW Mosman Branch at the Mosman Library to an intrigued audience. The collection is predominantly European, English, Australian and Japanese, with pieces epitomising the famous decades of Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Georgian, important Australian makers from key periods and fascinating purpose such as Australian nurses’ buckles, English gentleman’s and breeches buckles, carriage driver’s and mourning buckles, ladies’ buckles of 18th century French court. Beyond function, buckles were a form of practical jewellery used very much to signify status. The breadth of the collection extends from silver cloque toggle button from late 17th century, a fabulous cut steel diadem commonly worn by nobility of the late 17th century and the pinnacle of the collection, an extremely rare and valuable 14 carat gold Faberge buckle, seed pearl and exquisite guilloche enamel work in its original box by the Russian court jeweller Henrik Wigström A breadth of impressive workmanship feature materials such as gold, silver, pinchbeck, ivory, bone, jet, tortoiseshell and styles and techniques such as satsuma, pique, Limoges, cloissone, ormolu, Damascene, cut steel, paste and silver gilt filigree. Starting off with simpler, hallmarked pieces, our Lady eventually fell upon a sword buckle at Portabello Markets, London. “I was amazed,” she remarked. “I had never seen a buckle as old as this because these buckles date back to the 1670-1720 period and I was stunned by its age and the fact that it had its own keeper. The belt went across, and the keeper kept the sash in place. It was an amazing thing to think about.” As her collection grew, she became increasingly intrigued by the different periods of buckles and the eras and art movements they reflected. “From art nouveau, art deco to Edwardian, you started to think about the history and the history combined with the buckles themselves became more interesting than the buckles. The buckles were hard to find anyway. And I had to go to antique shops, which I always loved doing when I was very young in country Australia where I grew up. I would go around looking at wonderful designs and patterns because that’s what I loved looking at. And it became more than pleasure. It was something that became so interesting because of the history of them. Even now, looking back, I had something in my hand that had been designed and made before my forbears had come out to Australia. And that started to make me realise how important history was in my life. And the importance of these buckles.” As is so often the case with true collectors, historical breadth and the fineness of individual pieces began to drive her purchases. Seeking to establish the history of buckles through all