Object Description
A gilt brass Belt Buckle with a three masted ship to the centre.
The buckle is made up of three parts: the shaped back plate, a blackened middle plate and the ship. The three are fixed together by a pair of pins fixed to the back of the ship which pass through holes to the centre plate and back plate. They are turned over to fold parallel to the back plate and hold the three together.
The back plate has a raised bar which one end of the belt can be passed through and fixed as well as a wide hook formed from a piece of brass that has been folded over. The shaped back plate is gilt brass and decoratively engraved. The middle plate is also shaped with a raised border and a pattern of large and small connected circles. It is difficult to tell what material it is made of as it has been blackened. It looks like steel, although it doesn’t react to a magnet so might be brass. The brass ship is cast in relief and has a brighter gilt finish than the back plate.
The buckle has been well made and is a very decorative piece. Mid 19th Century.