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Knee buckle

Knee buckle
Silver, iron, paste
1770-1790
Knee buckle
Knee buckle
Silver, iron, paste
1770-1790
Knee buckle Silver, iron, paste 1770-1790
Status
On view
Label Text

This silver and paste buckle is one of a pair originally owned by George Washington. A pronged tongue, now missing, and the anchor piece on the back of the buckle would have enabled it to secure the knee bands on a pair of breeches. The rectilinear frame adorned with sparkling pastes - rhinestones made of glass - is indicative of the neoclassical taste for bold geometric forms. Washington would likely have worn this buckle on formal occasions along with similar paste buckles on his shoes.

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Date1770-1790
Geography Probably made - England
Medium/TechniqueSilver, iron, paste
DimensionsOverall: 1 1/4 in. x 1 1/4 in. x 3/8 in. (3.18 cm x 3.18 cm x 0.97 cm)
Credit LinePurchased by the A. Alfred Taubman Acquisition Endowment Fund and partial gift of an anonymous donor, 2004 Conservation courtesy of the Life Guard Society of Historic Mount Vernon
Object numberW-2785
DescriptionSmall, rectangular buckle set with square, faceted glass pastes along the open, cast silver frame; frame exhibits a slight arc across its width; inside edges of frame along its long sides bow outward slightly; iron chape with an anchor-shaped roll hinged on central pin.
Published ReferencesCarol Borchert Cadou, The George Washington Collection: Fine and Decorative Arts at Mount Vernon (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2006), 212.

Martha Gandy Fales, "The Jewelry," The Magazine Antiques 135/2 (February 1989): 513.
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