Large silver filigree clasp, Turkey, 1750-1850.

Large silver filigree three-part clasp, with the open filigree riveted to a sheet silver ground. The centre part of the clasp is shaped like a stylised tulip with a pointed base. The two side parts are the same shape, but smaller, attached to the centre at right angles with the bases indented to fit round the central part. There is an open filigree dome attached to the centre of each part. The filigree is richly decorated with stylised pomegranates, granule rosettes, granules, ingot shapes and strips of beading. A strip of silver forms a side to all parts, and there are wide bars on the back of each part for attachment. There is a pin fastening between the centre and the right-hand part, as worn.

Throughout the lands of the former Ottoman Empire, from the north Balkans to the Caucasus, large and elaborate waist clasps were the most important item in a woman’s dowry. These clasps come in a small number of basic designs including the distinctive shape shown here which is sometimes described as a stylised tulip. They were attached by the bars on the back to a cloth belt which the owner made herself and fastened by a vertical pin. The pin fastener was usually attached to the clasp by chains which hung down decoratively over the front of the clasp, but they are missing in this example.

The workmanship is typical of Armenian jewellery from Anatolia of the late 18th and 19th centuries.

173-1896