Knee buckle
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.
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.