Belt and three belt buckles. Syria, [late 19th or early 20th century].
Silver (parcel gilt), filigree and granulation; silver, cast and engraved; beads; cotton fabric.
1. Belt. Made from strap of cotton fabric in shades of white and light brown with twenty identical filigreed silver ornaments sewn on. Elegant buckle, composed of five layers of ornaments, filigreed in vegetal patterns, surmounted by crescent-shaped ornament with inlaid turquoise stones. Three small pendants suspended. Closed with hook (without corresponding loop). Marked (Ottoman hallmarks). 77X11 cm.
2. Small belt buckle, [19th century]. Consists of two identical links, decorated in filigree and granulation and inlaid with red and light blue beads. Closed with hook, covered with small ornament surmounted by bird. 18th- and 19th-century coins suspended from bottom. 13X5 cm.
3. Small belt buckle. Composed of five layers of silver and filigree silver ornaments, with vegetal patterns and with blue bead inlaid in middle. 8X7 cm.
4. Small belt buckle. Consists of two identical droplet-shaped links ("boteh" or paisleys). Decorated in filigree and granulation. Dome-shaped ornament covering hook. 8.5X2.5 cm.
References: The Arts and Crafts of Syria, p. 94; Sephardi Jews in the Ottoman Empire, plates 39-40; A World of Belts, pp. 119-21.