Ottoman Silver Filigree Waist Buckle & Silver Chain Necklace

This fine silver waist buckle and associated chains is very much in the Ottoman style. Ottoman empire rulers and warriors wore belts and elaborate, over-sized buckles as symbols of their power and rank. The fashion for such ostentatious belts was largely over by the mid-19th century.

The buckle is formed from three separate panels of fine, silver filigree curls within stiff silver borders and decorated with raised bosses and a central dramatic star motif.

It retains all the chains of the belt and these appear to have been re-arranged to allow the buckle and chain ensemble to now be worn as a particularly extravagant necklace. The chains have remarkably complex construction.

A related example of a buckle is illustrated in Borel (1994, p. 120).

The ensemble is of high-grade silver and in very fine condition.

We are unaware of other examples, published or otherwise, with such an array of attached silver chains.