Shoe buckle

Date1780-1810

MediumSilver, iron/steel

DimensionsOH: 1/4" OW: 1 1/8" OL: 2 1/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1936-601,1

DescriptionShoe buckle; rectangular silver shoe buckle with large hinged steal chapes typical of the 1780s and 1790s.Label TextThe most common way to fasten shoes throughout the 18th century was with a buckle. Shoe buckles ranged in material, shape, and changed in size depending on the fashion. The buckles attach to shoes by using chapes. One side; known as a fluke and in the shape of a whales tail, has two tines that attached to the latchet of the shoe. The other side of the chape; known as the tongue, pierces the leather to hold the shoe closed.

By the 1780s and 1790s, chape makers in England began to patent chapes to allow for wider buckles and to fasten to shoes more securely. This buckles show a hinged method by which the tongue of the chape, rests on a hinged bar. The small size of this buckle suggests it maybe for a child’s shoe.Mark(s)None foundProvenanceVendor: Antique Art Galleries, Ltd., London