Although traditional jewellery was worn throughout Sweden, and has a distinct Swedish character, there are marked differences between the different provinces. Skåne province, in the extreme south of Sweden, has the richest tradition, and more jewellery was worn there than in any other district. Almost all the Swedish traditional jewellery at the V&A comes from Skåne.

Everyday items, such as bodice hooks and shirt clasps, were an important element of traditional jewellery. They were as decorative and expensive as more conventional pieces like brooches or necklaces. A well-dressed woman from Skåne wore multiple pairs of silver clasps along the front edges of her outer clothes. Some of these were functional, and hooked into each other. Others were purely ornamental.

This clasp was worn on the outer jacket, but it was purely decorative, and never intended to fasten. Like much Swedish traditional jewellery, it has Catholic religious symbolism in the stylised figures of the Virgin Mary over the clasp, and the pendent gothic monograms, despite the fact that Sweden had become protestant in 1527. It has the maker's mark IAL. Jonas Aspelin the elder was a member of a family of silversmiths who specialised in traditional jewellery. They worked in Ystad from the middle of the 18th century onwards.