{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O126647"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O126647/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2012FJ2169/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2012FJ2169/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2012FJ2169","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2012FJ2193","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JT2633","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JV0387","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JV0388","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JV0389","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JV0390","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JV0391","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JV0392","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JV0393","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O126647/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O126647","accessionNumber":"M.65:1&2-1949","objectType":"Girdle","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This belt and clasp are characteristic of a type of costume ornament worn by the women of the Albanian community of Piana degli Albanesi, Sicily. The belt is known as a 'brezi', from the Albanian word 'brez', meaning 'race' or 'progeny', and the term refers to the function of the belt as a symbol of motherhood. A 'brezi' is an important element in the ritual leading up to marriage and subsequent motherhood, as the bride-to-be wears it as she displays her dowry. The clasp ('borchia') which fastens the belt is decorated with the image of the local patron saint, in this case St George.\r\nThe belt and clasp are traditionally the most important pieces of jewellery worn by the women of this community.","physicalDescription":"Belt made of 13 cast square silver sections of open-work with a rayed sun in the centre of each section, joined with two cast silver links in the shape of flowers. The clasp of silver with a cast image of St George slaying the dragon beneath a canopy, cherubs either side of the saint.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Caruso, Placido","id":"A39809"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"x40240"},"note":"possibly"}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"silver","id":"AAT11029"},{"text":"gold","id":"AAT11021"}],"techniques":[{"text":"casting","id":"AAT53104"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Silver","categories":[{"text":"Jewellery","id":"THES48930"},{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"},{"text":"Europeana Fashion Project","id":"THES265804"},{"text":"Traditional jewellery (Europe)","id":"THES270343"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2012FJ2169","2012FJ2193","2017JT2633","2017JV0387","2017JV0388","2017JV0389","2017JV0390","2017JV0391","2017JV0392","2017JV0393"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"039","id":"THES407862"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"039","id":"THES407862"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"clasp","id":"AAT239507"}],[{"text":"girdle (belt)","id":"AAT220741"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Piana degli Albanesi","id":"x47761"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1710","earliest":"1710-01-01","latest":"1710-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Belt"},{"date":{"text":"c. 1750","earliest":"1745-01-01","latest":"1754-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Clasp"}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Mrs E. M. Richards","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"13","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"clasp only","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"14","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"clasp only","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"2.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"clasp; approximate depth","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"273.9","unit":"g","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"clasp only","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"62.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"belt only; includes clasps at the end","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"5.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"belt","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"belt; approximate depth","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"582.7","unit":"g","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"belt","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Eagle with lowered wings over letters R.V.P.","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"Mark for silver, Palermo, before around 1710.","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"On front of 10 segments of belt."},{"content":"'P.C.710' in rectangular frame.","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"Mark of assay master Placido Caruso, of Palermo, 1710.","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"On front of 11 segments of belt."},{"content":"'PC' and star in rectangular frame.","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"Mark of unidentified maker","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"On front of 9 segments of belt."},{"content":"Eagle with raised wings over letters R.V.P.","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"Mark for silver, Palermo, after around 1710.","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"On front of clasp, below horse's front legs."},{"content":"'A.M.' in rectangular frame.","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"Mark of unidentified maker.","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"On front of clasp, at right of crown."},{"content":"Illegible mark, possibly ending in '2', in rectangular frame.","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"Assay master's mark.","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"On front of clasp, on wing of dragon."},{"content":"Partial mark of an eagle with raised wings.","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"Mark for silver, Palermo, after around 1710.","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"On front of clasp, on base of dragon."}],"objectHistory":"This belt was given to the V&A in 1949 by Mrs Euphrosyne M. Richards, née Whitaker.  She presumably inherited it from her mother, the famous Sicilian collector Euphrosyne (Effie) Whitaker, née Manuel. It was recorded as owned by her when illustrated by the British Consul-General Sidney J.A. Churchill in a special issue of 'The Studio' devoted to Peasant Art in Italy in 1913.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Silver, Sicily (Piana degli Albanesi), the belt stamped with Palermo assay officer's mark for 1710, the clasp c. 1750.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Accascina, Maria. <u>I Marchi delle Argenterie e Oreficerie Siciliane</u>. Busto Arsizio: Bramante Editrice, 1976"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<u>Piana degli Albanesi / Hora e Arbëreshëvet</u>. Quaderni di Biblos, 1/10. Palermo: Comune di Piana degli Albanesi and Biblioteca comunale Giuseppe Schiro di Piana degli Albanesi, 2000. Guidebook to the area and its customs."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Francesco Polizzi, 'Splendori di Sicilia al Victoria and Albert Museum' (doctoral thesis), Palermo, 2011, p.188."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"S.J.A. Churchill, 'Peasant Jewellery' in 'Peasant Art in Italy', a special edition of 'The Studio', Autumn 1913, fig. 300."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Perry, Jane. <u>Traditional Jewellery in Nineteenth-Century Europe</u>. London: V&A Publishing, 2013. ISBN 9781851777297"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Concetta di Natale, Maria. <u>Ore e argenti di Sicilia dal Quattrocento al Settecento.</u> Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Museo Regionale Pepoli, Trapani, July 1-Oct. 30, 1989. Milan: Electa, 1989. ISBN 8843528491"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"di Natale, Maria Concetta. <u>Ori e argenti di Sicilia dal Quattrocento al Settecento</u>. Catalogue of the exhibition at the Museo Regionale Pepoli, Trapani, 1 July - 30 October 1989. Milan: Electa, 1989. ISBN 8843528491"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"2. GIRDLE\r\nWorn at festivals by peasants of Piana dei Greci, Palermo, Sicily.\r\nSICILIAN (Palermo mark): second half of 18th century.\r\nMarks, (?) SCC and AM (buckle); PC 710 (girdle).\r\nGiven by Mrs. Richards\r\nM.65-1949","date":{"text":"1970-1980","earliest":"1970-01-01","latest":"1980-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["M.65:2-1949","M.65:1-1949"],"accessionNumberNum":"65","accessionNumberPrefix":"M","accessionYear":1949,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","girdle (belt)","clasp for a girdle"],"assets":["2019LU6557","2019LU1583","2019LV9191"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-12-18","recordCreationDate":"2006-08-01","availableToBook":true}}