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Buckle recovered from the wreck of the DUNBAR
Buckle recovered from the wreck of the DUNBAR

Buckle recovered from the wreck of the DUNBAR

DateBefore 1857
Object number00025914
NameBuckle
MediumAlloy
DimensionsOverall: 58 x 62 mm, 5 mm, 0.02 kg
ClassificationsClothing and personal items
Credit LineANMM Collection Purchased with the assistance of the Andrew Thyne Reid Trust
DescriptionA square shaped metal buckle featuring impressed decoration of three individual motifs, the top motif is a wreath, the middle motif is a pair of crossed cricket bats and the bottom motif is possibly a stylized floral ornament. Part of the material from the historic shipwreck DUNBAR. The DUNBAR Collection was retrieved under the auspices of an amnesty enacted through the jurisdiction of the Historic Shipwrecks Act, 1976.History"The belts were fastened by factory produced metal buckles which became 'de rigeur" for fashion at the time. The article claims the buckles were first introduced in England in 1854 by Edward Ade of Oxford Street, London together with plain belts. The buckles were an early example of sport impacting on commercialism and fashion. They state by the finding of cricket buckles across the globe reinforces how widespread the trend was for wearing these items. Like all trends, fashion changed and by the 1870's there was a strong move to replace the wearing of belts with buckles with ties and sashes. The article also stated that they went out of fashion because the handle of the bat may come in contact with the buckle and the noise may be mistaken by the umpire for a snick of the bat. In fact I once saw a man given out that way." [http://forum.kimbucktwo.com/index.php?topic=16324.0] the first ever English Cricket Team to tour Australia in 1861 – 62. Brass and guilt buckles were introduced in the 1850s, belts and sashes were early sort-after fashion accessories and soon became an important part of cricket attire. These buckles would have been fitted to a canvas belt often printed with a cricket design. By 1868 belts were out of fashion and were replaced by elastic bands. However belts and sashes in appropriate Club colours continued to be worn for scorecard identification. [http://www.lords.org/mcc/laws-of-cricket/laws/artefactdetails/Museum/16299?page=1]