Featured PERANAKAN SILVER BELT BUCKLE!

The end-result of a chance conversation at the local flea-market saw me the proud owner of this stunning piece of antique Straits silverware.

I swear, if I could thread a strap of leather through this thing, I'd wear it every day, just for the hell of it!

 

More research reveals that this is called a "Pending", a traditional Malay belt-buckle, which was adopted by the Straits-Chinese when they married into local Malay families, so it makes sense that it would cross-pollinate between the two cultures.

My dad reckons it's pewter. All my research tells me that these were made of either brass, or silver. It's not marked anywhere. I'm going to take it to my jeweler tomorrow and get it tested. A cursory check tells me it's non-magnetic, for whatever that's worth.

 

time for a new frame........... nice find !

 

I'd say zero percent chance of pewter! You're going to need a companion frame.

 

It may be silver-plated brass, or it may be low-grade silver. It'll be up to my friend and his acid-test to tell me.

 

Exactly, it is a Malay pending, a shape that originated in Sumatra, the Malay homeland.

Since you want to collect Peranakan silver, it is good to know a little about the other styles in the region, that Peranakan silver is based on. You recently came to know the Thai style, but you are bound to come across more Malay pieces, so here are the basics:

You can recognize Malay silver and gold by the fact that there are no people depicted on the piece, and usually no birds or animals. The motifs are stylised floral, plant, water, and cloud motifs, often meandering along the piece. (Only occasionally do you see birds, but other animals are very rare.) Around the rim of your pending are water motifs. Water is central to Malay culture, because it developed along the coasts and rivers of SE Asia.
Central motifs are often a flower or an Islamic star, albeit with elegantly curved sides. The central motif on yours is a mangosteen flower, which has four waxy petals.
Malay silver and gold has a very harmonious look because it has to be soothing as paradise. Your pending has that harmonious Malay look, fit for meditation.

Peranakan silver and gold has people and/or animals depicted on the piece. It is often a wondrous world of Buddhist symbols, trees, people, animals, birds, temples, what have you.

This is a Peranakan buckle:


From: The Jewelry of Southeast Asia - Anne Richter.

And why not? These gents from Jambi, Sumatra, wore theirs daily. You will need a keris too, of course.


From: Malay Silver and Gold - Michael Backman.

Apologies for the fuzzy photos.

 

This kind of belt buckle is Malay. Very beautiful.

 

Ken, I just uploaded a photo from that very book, the gents from Jambi.
A wonderful book, and I can recommend it to anyone who is interested in Malay silver and gold.

 

I think that is very unlikely. It looks silver to me, and it is an excellent find.

 

At least I know what it is, now. At least I wasn't too far off. Sorry to upset anybody.

As for what it's made of, I'll find out tomorrow. I've been polishing it steadily all day to try and get as much of the tarnish off as I can.

 

Same region, and a mother culture to the Peranakan culture.
Try to get acquainted with Malay, other Sumatran, and Javanese silver, and of course Chinese silver, so you can tell what's what. And try to get acquainted with true Peranakan pieces as well.

I don't think anyone would be upset by seeing a beautiful Malay pending.

 

Yes, I saw similarities and guessed it was that, or something adjacent to it.

I was referring more to the misidentification. You'd be surprised at how mad and sensitive people can be about this stuff.

 

It has to do with identity, and people can be sensitive about that.
Malay culture has long been virtually ignored in many of the regions it considers its home. So I can understand that Malay people would think "yet another denial of our beautiful culture".
Fortunately for you, we don't have any Malays on the forum (yet). And you've made a start in learning the difference.

 

I am wondering if I should get the buckle marked, when I have it tested. There's no markings on here, and at some point in the future, someone else will own this, and I think it'd be nice to have it certain what it is, if it turns out to be silver.

 

The person who will own it in future will be a collector of Malay or general Asian or ethnic silver. Those collectors will know that many such pieces are not marked.
I don't know how they will feel about a recent Aussie mark.
I don't mind that kind of thing, as long as the mark is tiny (like some of my ethnic silver with minute Dutch assay marks). Others may say it is not authentic to the piece, or worse.
If you decide not to get it marked, a report stating the result with a good description or photo of the pending will be good.

 

I would mind very much if the mark was just a fineness mark, like a 925 mark. That makes it look like a recently made piece, and it doesn't mean a thing valuewise because it isn't an assay mark.

 

It wouldn't be anything fancy. Just a simple fineness mark.

I know that antique Asian silver on a whole, is not always marked, but not everybody knows that, so it's as much to cover me as anybody else, if it ever gets challenged, etc. Again - I speak from experience.

Here's some new photos of the pending, after a lot of heavy polishing to remove as much of the tarnish as possible. I didn't put so much effort into the back, but still...

 

Personally, I wouldn't do a fineness mark. It doesn't mean a thing in today's silver world, and many ethnic/Asian jewellery collectors would consider it taking away from the authenticity of the piece, or even defacing.

We don't always have to go all the way for the ignorant. A test report with a good description or photo of the pending is a more sympathetic option imo.

Good job.

You can see more of the fine work that went into making it, so a good result.

 

No more Pewter guesses!

 

I'll find out in a few hours when I visit my friend later today to get a test done.

From what I remember of handling pewter, which I don't do very often, it's quite hard to polish, and this hasn't been, so...yeah...??

I dunno why my dad reckons its pewter, but whatever. He thought the buckle was too weak or soft or something.