Pair of silver-gilt hinged bracelets set with green and red pastes, with a lozenge-shaped clasp, Egypt, 1850-1884.

Pair of silver-gilt hinged bracelets with screw fastenings. The two hinged sections are unequal in size, and the screw opens clockwise. The body of the bracelet consists of a length of thick wire, of circular section, scored on the surface to look like tightly twisted wire. It widens at the terminals to form a lozenge-shaped clasp which has a cast overlay set with two red and two green pastes. There is a triangular motif, set with two red and one green paste, on each side where the clasp joins the body of the bracelet.

Bought from the collection of Gaston de Saint-Maurice (1831-1905) in 1884. Saint-Maurice displayed his extensive art collection at the 1878 Paris exhibition, in a gallery entitled L'Egypte des Khalifes. This was part of an official sequence of displays celebrating the history of Egypt, presented by the Egyptian state at this international event. Saint-Maurice held a position at the Khedival court, and had lived in Cairo in 1868-1878. Following the exhibition, Saint-Maurice offered his collection for sale to the South Kensington Museum (today the V&A).

Bracelets were part of traditional costume in most Islamic cultures, and were always originally worn in matching pairs. These were described as Saracenic, from Cairo, when they were acquired by the Museum in 1884. They are not typical of any kind of Egyptian traditional bracelet, and may have come originally from elsewhere.

948&A-1884