Filigree Belt - Ottoman - Gallery

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Filigree Belt - Ottoman

Posted by Peter Hoesli on October 29, 2015 at 4:22pm

Filigree Belt - Ottoman

Comments

Peter Hoesli October 29, 2015 at 4:27pm

This is a very rare Ottoman silver filigree belt. The buckle is partly gilded while the end piece is featuring Niello. It is featuring the Tughra stamp as well as the stamp of the silver smith.
Thelma October 29, 2015 at 4:36pm

Yes, this looks like an extremely high quality piece, beautifully designed and made. Is that a key hole I can see in the top left corner? Congratulations, Peter
Joost Daalder October 29, 2015 at 4:48pm

Terrific and beautiful workmanship!
Peter Hoesli October 29, 2015 at 5:42pm

Dear Thelma and Joost; Many thanks for your comments. The "key hole" is the end piece with intricate niello and used to clip the buckle into the belt. With kind regards. Peter
ingrid Langerak October 29, 2015 at 11:52pm

Another outstanding belt. Unbelievable. Congratulations Peter. GR. Ingrid. It is also so fascinating that this type basic decoration,except for the stunning clasp, has reached as far as Ethiopia. There is a horse halter in my possession with similar links. I will try to place a photo. GR. `ingrid.
Joost Daalder October 30, 2015 at 12:05am

Ingrid, that horse halter is also most impressive!
ingrid Langerak October 30, 2015 at 1:03am

Thank you Joost, although this wasn.t the one I had in mind. I will show the full picture another time, It goes with two large anklets or cuffs. What I was thinking of the large granulates on Peter's belt. Those (salmiacs shapes) they are so common to Yemen and especially to Ethiopia. This must be due to the wide spread Ottoman influence. Gr. Ingrid.
Joost Daalder October 30, 2015 at 3:12am

Sorry I mistook you, Ingrid - but it is a great belt which you posted, anyway! I am one of I am sure several people who will look forward to your posting the picture you intended. I think that when you refer to "salmiacs shapes" you probably have in mind the shapes of diamonds on cards (a shape formed by two triangles with the bases touching), right? Yes, they are indeed common to Yemen, I agree, and in Ethiopia - I presume because much Yemeni jewellery was exported to that country. And indeed, we agree that within the Ottoman Empire motifs and a general typically Ottoman "aesthetic" were widely distributed. The Ottoman influence even went beyond the countries that strictly belonged to the Empire - the impact was huge.
ingrid Langerak October 30, 2015 at 10:16am

Hi Joost, just like you wrote, I do mean the diamond shapes. These decorations are very common on the ethnic jewelry of Ethiopia. Ethiopia was invaded by the Turks in great numbers,who were than spreading the Islam that is also when many of the churches went physically under ground, like famous churches are p.e. the Churches out of rock in Lalibella, but those are only in one place they exist all over Ethiopia.So the Ottoman influence and inheritance dates from that period. There are still people who can trace their forefathers back to the Turks. Come to think having been a country which remained rather isolated from the outside world, they remained in certain areas, like Harrarque very much in that type, while the highlanders did have a different trend of a lot more fine file grain decoration. Gr. Inbgrid.
Joost Daalder October 30, 2015 at 1:54pm

Very interesting post, Ingrid! Thanks very much.