The circular bronze element is gilded and ornamented with a central gold collet set with a blue glass cabochon, four further blue discs decorate the space around the cabochon with...
The circular bronze element is gilded and ornamented with a central gold collet set with a blue glass cabochon, four further blue discs decorate the space around the cabochon with punched concentric circle details in the field. The outer edge is set with triangular garnets interspersed with three raised gilt bosses with engraved concentric circles, the bosses serve to hide and anchor the attachment pins on the reverse to secure the buckle to the belt. The hinged bronze buckle is ornamented with engraved decoration.
Adolphe and Suzanne Stoclet Collection (1871-1949),Belgium, thence by descent
Adolphe Stoclet was a Belgian engineer, financier and noted collector of antiquities; his wife Suzanne, was the daughter of art critic, historian, collector, and dealer Arthur Stevens (1825 - 1909) and niece of the painter Alfred Stevens (1823 - 1906). Together they amassed an eclectic and encyclopaedic collection of pieces from ancient civilisations. In 1905 the Stoclets' passion for art, architecture and antiquities culminated in the commission of Josef Hoffmann, of Wiener Werkstatte, to build the Stoclet Palace in Brussels to house their extensive collection; Gustav Klimt (1862 - 1916) designed the glorious mosaic friezes for the dining room.
Literature
The Migration Period, spanning circa AD 300-800, was one of the major epochs of early Medieval art. It includes the art of the Germanic tribes on the continent and the Hiberno-Saxon art of the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic fusion in the British Isles. These centuries saw the great westward migrations of the Germanic peoples as they settled throughout Europe. Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Vandals, Angles, Saxons, Franks, Lombards and many more tribes that had been living on the eastern sides of the rivers Rhine and Danube had been under the influence of the Late Romans for quite a while by that time. This was reflected in their jewellery as the technical and decorative styles are not all that different from the Late Roman goldsmiths.
The migratory tribes favoured art works that were functional and portable. These included objects of personal adornment such as jewellery, garment accessories, lavishly decorated weapons, and horse trappings. The majority of these objects were taken to the grave, and were worn in life and death to signify status and cultural identity.
Objects such as this belt buckle offer a fascinating glimpse into an era that bridges the Roman world with the Middle Ages. A popular style of the period was the polychrome style, characterised by small, gold objects richly inlaid with colourful stones and cut glass. For a similar style object in the form of a brooch, see The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, accession no. 2007.163.