A nice pair of antique Victorian shoe buckles. Made from brass with
silver plated surface and dating from circa.1840-60. Each buckle
measures 5.5cms wide and 4.2cms tall.
Buckled shoes began to replace
tied shoes in the mid-17th century: Samuel Pepys wrote in his Diary for
22 January 1660 "This day I began to put on buckles to my shoes, which I
have bought yesterday of Mr. Wotton." The fashion at first remained
uncommon enough though that even in 1693 a writer to a newspaper
complained of the new fashion of buckles replacing ribbons for fastening
shoes and knee bands. Separate buckles remained fashionable until they
were abandoned along with high-heeled footwear and other aristocratic
fashions in the years after the French Revolution, although they were
retained as part of ceremonial and court dress until well into the 20th
century.