Pair of stylish Georgian Dandy’s “Artois” shoe buckles, c.1780
$950.00 AUD
Pair of stylish Georgian Dandy’s ‘Artois’ shoe buckles, with close-set paste stones on a solid silver back, the inner bezel in tooled pinchbeck, with steel loop chape and heart-shaped tongue.
English, Circa 1780
W: 7.2cm
minor signs of age, slight damage to a few stones
‘Paste’ was an artificial glass mixture developed to produce dazzling sparkles, much like diamonds. It was not merely an imitation diamond, but rather a man-made stone that was still highly regarded; the jewelers of the Georgian era advertised their paste alongside their diamonds. They were worn by the wealthy as part of their most formal dress.
This large style buckle bears the name of the Comte d’Artois, brother of Louis XVI, and ambassador in England at the time they became fashionable in England. The ‘Macaroni’, with their fobish extravagant costumes, loved the ‘bling’ effect of the stones, and dazzled as they moved through their social occasions.
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