Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 119, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 May 1913 — OLD CHINESE BELT BUCKLES [ARTICLE]

OLD CHINESE BELT BUCKLES

Among the Most Alluring of the Offerings In Antiques, Which Are Just Now All the Rage. Oblong belt buckles of ancient Chinese workmanship are among the alluring offerings in antique. The buckles of metal heavily plated with dull, greenish gold, are set with huge circles and squares of green, blue, amber and rose mottled quartz so highly polished that it appears to be overlaid with crystal. On the under side the buckles are of the gilded metal richly chased or engraved, and near one end of each is a slide through which the belt ribbon may be forced, while at the opposite end is a broad, flat sort of hook, which readily catches into and ( holds the girdle’s fabric. It is possible, by joining four to six of these buckles, to make a wonderfully unique looking girdle of the sort now worn with '‘classic” tea gowns and with tailored white crash or toweling frocks. The ornaments bear the earmarks of great age, their fine workmanship is obvious at a glance and they are not prohibitively costly.