Featured Austro Hungarian Buckle…

…..or a Wannabee?
Glass and brass enamel part buckle.
Quite large at 6.5cm across. Sadly just a half but still a beautiful thing as it is.
Thinking it could make a lovely pendant? (Maybe the other way up)
Thanks for looking

 

A stunner. Probably Bohemian. It looks ca 1890-1900, but could be slightly later if it is Bohemian.
Bohemian costume jewellery from the AH era is usually classed as Bohemian, rather than AH. Silly really, since it has the characteristics of silver and gold AH jewellery, but there you are.

@Ownedbybear what do you think?

 

I bought a whole bag of cr*p as I saw it peeking out shouting at me to save it.

So, from the same era,
Gold and silver = Austro Hungarian
Costume = Bohemian
Ok, got it

 

I'm in agreement with @Any Jewelry on this. Costume, nicely done, in the style of AH. It might tip into the 20s: if you think about what Neiger were doing with enamel and stones?

 

I only wish we could see the rest of it.

 

Me too. I was hoping it was in the bag but no such luck

 

Sometimes buying half blind is a big score. Sometimes.... wah wahhhhh.

 

I've just realised the colours: white, purple and green.

 

Suffragette ?

 

Yup!

 

oh yes! I didn’t clock that. Clever OBB!
I wonder if it’s genuinely suffragette or just a happy accident that it is those colours.
Its bang on for the right dates though isn’t it?

 

It may well be geniune, which is nice!

 

I suspect the latter.
For one thing, what would be white on a Suffragette item, is cream on this buckle. The colour combination was fashionable in 19th century Central Europe.
Another thing is that Bohemian suffragettes were closely linked to the Bohemian/Czech quest for independence from AH, and used Bohemian/Czech colours, not the Suffragette colours we know.

Interesting fact is that, although women couldn't vote or be voted for in Austro-Hungarian elections, they could in Bohemian elections, because there had never been a ban on women's vote in Bohemia. (Yay Bohemia!)

 

I think if someone was clever , They could make a belt with it as is. I am thinking you could use wide ribbon or very soft leather , buy a similar style buckle and sew the missing hooking part to one end and sew the other end around where the original belt would have attached. Hope that makes sense. I think as unskilled as I am at sewing , even I could make it work.

 

It does to me. I was actually thinking the same, because this half buckle looks good as a 'proper' buckle too.