Bodice Fastener
1830-1870 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
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.
Bodice fasteners originated in the Middle Ages, as a way of fastening the front opening of the bodice. Women made holes on either side of the bodice, and then laced them together with a cord running through the holes, in the same way that people still lace their shoes. Because of their prominent position on the front of the costume, the holes were often decorated with embroidery, or replaced with silver eyelets or bodice fasteners, like these.
This kind of bodice fastener, made of partially gilded sheet silver with a filigree and paste button on the top, is typical of those made in Ystad. The stamped trefoil motif in the centre deliberately lacks one petal, to leave room for the chain which links them together, but by the 19th century they were purely decorative, not functional. These are marked with the griffin town mark of Ystad, and the maker's mark of Peter Magnus Wallengren, who came from a family of silversmiths who specialised in traditional jewellery. He worked in Ystad from 1830 to 1870.
Bodice fasteners originated in the Middle Ages, as a way of fastening the front opening of the bodice. Women made holes on either side of the bodice, and then laced them together with a cord running through the holes, in the same way that people still lace their shoes. Because of their prominent position on the front of the costume, the holes were often decorated with embroidery, or replaced with silver eyelets or bodice fasteners, like these.
This kind of bodice fastener, made of partially gilded sheet silver with a filigree and paste button on the top, is typical of those made in Ystad. The stamped trefoil motif in the centre deliberately lacks one petal, to leave room for the chain which links them together, but by the 19th century they were purely decorative, not functional. These are marked with the griffin town mark of Ystad, and the maker's mark of Peter Magnus Wallengren, who came from a family of silversmiths who specialised in traditional jewellery. He worked in Ystad from 1830 to 1870.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Materials and techniques | Stamped sheet silver, partly gilded, set with applied filigree and a red paste, on a ring of twisted silver wire |
Brief description | Pair of silver bodice fasteners (maljor), partly gilded and set with a red paste, Skåne (Sweden), 1830-1870. |
Physical description | Set of two (originally ten) silver bodice fasteners. Each is made from a disc of silver, cut out as a trefoil with double lobes on each petal, with partly gilded domed decoration. This motif is itself slightly domed and set over the central space of a ring of twisted wire. It has a button attached to the centre, consisting of a circle of coil rings round a central red paste. |
Dimensions |
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Marks and inscriptions |
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Summary | 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. Bodice fasteners originated in the Middle Ages, as a way of fastening the front opening of the bodice. Women made holes on either side of the bodice, and then laced them together with a cord running through the holes, in the same way that people still lace their shoes. Because of their prominent position on the front of the costume, the holes were often decorated with embroidery, or replaced with silver eyelets or bodice fasteners, like these. This kind of bodice fastener, made of partially gilded sheet silver with a filigree and paste button on the top, is typical of those made in Ystad. The stamped trefoil motif in the centre deliberately lacks one petal, to leave room for the chain which links them together, but by the 19th century they were purely decorative, not functional. These are marked with the griffin town mark of Ystad, and the maker's mark of Peter Magnus Wallengren, who came from a family of silversmiths who specialised in traditional jewellery. He worked in Ystad from 1830 to 1870. |
Collection | |
Accession number | 533H-1886 |
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Record created | June 24, 2009 |
Record URL |
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