[Tidbits] Belt Buckle Brooch

namor · March 27, 1999, 2:17pm

Belt Buckle Brooch

Art Nouveau. Art Deco. Periods covering 1895 to 1930. And within
those periods…sub-periods. Phases. Animal pins. Flowers.
Cigarette cases. Enameled pendants. A pansy ring. A violet clasp.
On and on…till someone thought of a Belt Buckle Brooch. And a
new rage entered the American scene.

It’s the 1890’s folks. The venue of the day…silver. Cheap, or
rather economically affordable, was the way to go. It was a
malleable material, easily sculpted into large scale ornaments.
Good things come in small packages? Bah! Baloney, pal. The bigger
the better. Theatrics entered the world of daytime jewelry. Drama
reigned supreme. The Belt Buckle Brooch made its way to the
forefront of fashion.

A magazine–you may have heard of it–called Vogue, said this in
1902: “…the latest Parisian fad…” They must have meant the
town of Paris, in the city of Newark, in the state of New Jersey.
What’s in a name…a lot. Don’t kid yourselves. Hype is older
than yesterday.

These things were worn by men on their belts…by women around
the waist…attached to a sash. A belly pin, I guess, for the
more literal minded. But pins or brooches, they all mimicked
belt buckles. And they came in different finishes. Oxidized
silver. Gold plated silver. Mourning black silver. But always
silver. And always…always…beautiful.

There are so many to see…so many craftsmen to choose from. So I
picked one. His name…Frank LaPierre. He had a manufacturing
company on East 14th Street, in New York City. And he dabbled in
Belt Buckle Brooches. And some of his dabblings were unique. And
so…yup…you guessed it folks…I picked one. An Indian Head,
Belt Buckle, Brooch. Gorgeous. Eclectic. A little off-beat. My
cup of tea.

By 1914…our brooch had left the American scene…never to
return. So it goes. However…there’s this fellow who makes it
his business…when he’s not doing business…to bring some
images of a past day to you. His name is Benjamin Mark. Not a bad
chap…even if I have to say so myself…which, apparently, I do.

So…to cut to the end. To see the belt buckle, go to my home
page without delay. Scroll down the table menu till you get to
that box that says Tidbits. And inside the box, click on the
graphic link that says “brooch”. And you’ll see what I saw.

And there ya have it.
That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark