Pair of silver-gilt filigree linked buttons, Salamanca (Spain), 1850-1870.
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1850-1870
Pair of hollow silver-gilt buttons, with sheet metal back, and open filigree front decorated with faceted lozenges, granules, and rings of twisted and braided wire.
The buttons are joined by an oval link. Silver buttons were an important element of traditional dress in Spain. Unlike in most other European countries, women were just as likely to wear them as men. Both sexes wore them in extravagant quantities, along the seams of jackets and trousers and in bunches at the wrist, as well as to fasten clothes. Two buttons linked together were originally worn to close the front opening of a shift or shirt.
By the 19th century they were also sometimes used as cuff-links. The design of these buttons, with a sheet metal back and open filigree front, is typical of those worn in Salamanca, although most Salamancan buttons are made of silver, not silver-gilt.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 2
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Physical characteristics
- Dimensions
- Diameter 2.5 cm; Width 5.4 cm
- Materials and techniques
- Silver-gilt and filigree
Technical characteristics
- Place recorded
- Spain; Salamanca
Identification
- Candidate id
- vam-O147787
- Museum object number
- 1126-1873
- Source note
- Facts transcribed from the linked single-object source. Wider type attribution and authenticity have not been independently verified.
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm the wider type and source attribution against specialist references.