buckle

Tripartite silver buckle (poukla) with exuberant decoration that covers the whole surface of all three parts. Various techniques were used in the manufacture of the buckle, including casting, forging, and engraving, while the embellishment was completed with overlaid elements and inlaid coloured glass stones. Two parts of the buckle are integrated, while the third is independent and connected to the central part with a pin. A triple chain begins at a ring on one of the lateral parts and is connected with a pin through another ring. To close the buckle, the pin enters tubular receptacles on both the central and independent parts, securing it.   The two lateral parts of the buckle are almost identical in terms of design and decoration, while all three have a very similar outline, consisting of two opposite horn-like protrusions and floral patterns at the tip. The middle section is larger and more striking. It is oriented vertically, as opposed to the lateral sections, which are horizontal and serve to frame the central piece. The perimeters of all three pieces are emphasised with a series of dots, and all three have a similar decoration of dense patterns, leaves, branches and rosette-type flowers with dots in their centres and small overlaid prismatic squares arranged sporadically across the whole surface. In the centre of each piece is an inlaid glass stone, green on the lateral pieces and red in the central piece. The glass stones are surrounded by tiny flowers, creating the impression of a rosette. These central elements of each section are screwed on, and their surface, like the silver surface of other parts of the buckle, glistens and appears to have been gilded. On the reverse side, the buckle has four copper clasps for securing a fabric belt. A similar example of a cast buckle is included in the collection of the Leventis Municipal Museum in Nicosia (Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou and Loizou Hadjigavriel 2003, 61, no. C/1992/1242). A similar version of the distinctive outline seen here is found on a buckle with filigree decoration in the same collection (Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou and Loizou Hadjigavriel 2003, 60, no. C/1989/174), as well as on a filigree buckle in a private collection in Nicosia (Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 1996, 229, fig. 245) and on a Cypriot buckle in the National Historical Museum in Athens (Gangadi et al. 1999, 137, fig. 120). The antiquity of tripartite buckles of this type, with their common characteristic outline, but usually with motifs in filigree technique, is attested by their presence in collections dating from the second half of the 19th century, such as that of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (Papadimitriou 2000, 73, 98-99, Catalogue 31, 34; see also another sample of the same type with dense spirals and hexagons and inlaid glass stones at their centres, in Ohnefalsch-Richter (1913) 1994, plate 761).   Dimensions: Height 23 cm., Width 14 cm.