Prairie 1856-R

Prairie 1856-R

Solid Sterling Silver 4-Piece Buckle Set

This one-of-a-kind hand-engraved buckle set has classic ornamentation styled from 19th century American guns. There is very little scroll-work, but heavy use of borders instead. The areas of parallel lines with the simple scroll through them gives an interesting effect, especially as they are surrounded by banners and borders. The stamped diamond-circle border along the dropped edges of this set is an interesting study in utilizing the different surfaces of a canvas for the added impression of depth and layering. Neil has also been intrigued by the extensive use of arrows in 19th century American gun ornamentation, and he found an opportunity to use them here. As usual, Neil successfully pulls all the elements together into a cohesive and beautiful design.

This unusual and attractive 1¼" (32mm) buckle set looks good on any color strap.

Neil is ever pursuing new limits and perspectives on buckle-making. The buckles in the "1800" series are the height of craftsmanship and artistry. They are inspired by ornamentation on 19th century American guns, which were mostly engraved by German and Austrian immigrant craftsmen. Among them, engraving by German immigrant LD Nimschke is the most well-known and well-documented, and as such, Neil has found much inspiration perusing the book of "smoke-prints" of Nimschke's work.