any idea? (a what is it thread)

Robert.B

Robert.B

Joined
Apr 17, 2003
Messages
5,283
ok i've had this a good 15 years, got it at a boot sale inside another object i bought (wooden box with some drawers) and just recently found it going through boxes before I move back to the US permanently...anyhoo its made of silver, its a braided/chain mail silver wire, and feels pretty well made. The buckle has a left handed thread that appears to be hand made, I think it might be a belt, and with the motif I'm thinking African? but i have seen similar silver braiding work from old scandinavian finds so i have no idea. Not asking for an appraisal but maybe some of the old members have seen something like this.

I figure a lot of peeps on here are well rounded in hobbies and what they know, plus i have no idea of sites that would be able to identify a curiosity like this. So any ideas? :D

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PS. Excuse the stained finger nails :o i work on oily old car parts daily lol.
 
that's what i was thinking.

awful little for a belt buckle. and i would hate to have to unscrew that thing in a pants removal emergency.
 
It certainly is intriguing, isn't it... and pretty in a certain way. It looks to be of good quality.

Fancy riding (horse) tack?
 
SIXFOOTER said:
thats a chicks belt and buckle
GF has a sack fulla that kinda stuff
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see thats what i was thinking...not for holding pants up, just decoration, I thought it was worth holding onto for the interesting chain part alone, its so fine but its also strong.

as for length i dont have a tape at this time but its long enough that it would fit around a slender girls waist.
 
Well, I got the GF working on this thing and here is what she found out:
This is one of hers
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here are a couple ebay links to give you an idea
Might want to hang on to it

http://cgi.ebay.com/Thai-tribal-silver-belt-northern-handmade-woven-/120605500266
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?VISuperSize&item=120605500266

THAI TRIBAL SILVER BELT. This belt has been in my collection for more than 20 years. The silver content is high but not sterling. It is 31" in length and combines woven segments with handmade silver work on the buckle segment. The weight is 11.60 oz. Please email if more information is needed. This belt has no defects such as broken segments or dents. The workmanship is of a higher standard than modern day examples. From the Chiang Mai area of northern Thailand.
 
Guess that has solved it! thanks so much to you and your girlfriend for helping out...I was way off on the motif, but figured their might be someone on here that would know! my one is not perfect and has a few spots where it appears to have damage (no breaks, but some dents and warping of the silver).

Mine does appear old though, very well made and I have no intention of getting rid of it any time soon...not as eleborate as the first link you posted to ebay but still a nice piece of art, kinda feel bad that its been in the bottom of a box for a good 5 years out in my tool shed. Maybe I should look into an appraisal for insurance, but finding someone that also knows what it is might be difficult.

Thanks again, I've wondered what it was since I acquired it.
 
Well whatever it is, don't clean it. If you've ever watched Antiques Roadshow, you know how that goes.
 
never been cleaned as far as i know...and silver wares can be cleaned without effecting value, in fact silver if not maintained will lose value until restored, i have a small lot of old english silver ware with good hallmarks that I need to tend to once a year (I dont use silver cloths or anything abrasive though with that).

This will be left as it, has more character with the tarnished areas anyway.
 
Robert.B said:
PS. Excuse the stained finger nails :o i work on oily old car parts daily lol.
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Dollar store has nail brushes ;)



Before you call me a sissy, I work in a mine with a lot of lead, and I live alone (so cook). So I don't really want the dark stuff under my nails to end up in my food.
 
The Portland Art Museum has a specialty in decorative silver; the collection is huge and historically-significant. A number of years ago, the museum received two large and significant donations almost simultaneously. Both were estates and both were entirely unexpected.

One was one of the best-known private collections in the world. Everyone in the decorative silver world knew of this collection, but nobody knew what was to become of it upon the owner's death. Major museums were "courting" the owner hoping to receive one or two pieces. When the time came and the will was read, the entire community gasped to hear that the entire collection was to go to Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon... a museum that really hadn't even asked for anything.

The other was an extraordinary situation of a huge and historically-significant private collection that was unknown. Nobody in the community even knew of this collection and yet it was exquisite. And, while the owner had apparently visited PAM several times, it was just as a tourist walking in and buying a ticket. So when the lawyer called up and said that his client had passed away and PAM was the heir for the silver, the folks at PAM expected maybe grandma's old tea set or something. When they received the inventory list, they just about fainted.

Anyway, to celebrated these two significant additions... and the new gallery that would be added with a small fraction of the cash gift that accompanied the first... the Museum put the entire silver collelction on display all at once. Just about every corner and nook of the building had a rented display case full of silver.

I sarcastically asked one of the curators, " Who polishes all of this?" The answer, given entirely seriously, is that the museum has a staff of conservators who just polish silver all day every day. But, it's not as bad as one might think because each piece only needs to be done every few years thanks to a wonderful wax product.

"A miracle wax? Every few years? What wax is this, I asked?"

It was then and there that I first learned about Ren Wax which is now popular in the knife community too. It really works. Wax your silver and it will stay perfect for years between polishings.
 

Going to have to get some of that! I dont have any for my knives because I use clove oil but i'd love something to protect them...and now I want to visit that museum! sounds like they have a display i'd really enjoy, not to mention Oregon is pretty enough to justify the drive there. :thumbup: thanks for that story and advice.

cybrok said:
Dollar store has nail brushes ;)

Before you call me a sissy, I work in a mine with a lot of lead, and I live alone (so cook). So I don't really want the dark stuff under my nails to end up in my food.
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I use them, but I have to scrape too and I had just got home when I took the pics...didn't realize how filthy they looked until I put the pics up :p the carbon riddled oil has seeped into my nails to the point they had to grow out to remove the stain. I'd wear gloves but working on lathes and such it doesn't work out too well if one gets snagged.
 
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