Featured Silver necklace with dangling bits, please help!

Hello again,
This necklace was different than anything I have seen, also bought from Swan Antiques.
Sold as guild sterling silver, not hallmarked.
What are the dangling bits? Does this type of necklace have a name?
How old is it?
Thank you.
Kind regards,
Simona
@Any Jewelry @Ownedbybear
@Bronwen
@PepperAnna

 

I'd be thinking 20th century somewhere. Not Italian; they'd have marked the hobgoblins out of the clasp. Beyond that, we wait for the experts on non-American stuff.

 

Croatian botuni?
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/678...f=sr_gallery-1-3&sts=1&organic_search_click=1

 

You're right in that the dangles are probably based on European folk buttons, like the Balkan* "botuni", but I don't think these are Balkans. Balkan filigree is usually more delicate.
Those rather solid looking, compact concentric filigree rings are used in Spain, but that doesn't mean these dangles are Spanish.
Filigree buttons were used all over Europe, and identifying them can be a bit of a pain. A nice pain though, I love ethnic buttons.

Unfortunately firefox ate my folder with links to ethnic costumes, buttons, etc, and even going back a week or so doesn't retrieve it.
My book on peasant buttons also seems to be MIA, but if I find it I will report back.

*Croatia is currently a major producer of Balkan filigree. It is excellent that they continue the tradition, but the style and technique are generic Balkans.

 

Maybe Ohrid?

 

Ohrid doesn't have those compact concentric filigree rings either. Ohrid filigree is similar to the other Balkan filigree.

 

I wonder if you could tell me how old it is. I have been told by the seller that because it is not hallmarked, it’s an antique necklace. I wonder what is your take on it.
Thank you.
Kind regards,
Simona

 

told by the seller that because it is not hallmarked, it’s an antique necklace.

That's common.....& means nothing.

Even if it was marked 925....or Sterling.....those are not hallmarks !

Does it even test as silver ?

 

Yes, it tests sterling.
I am learning to do my own research now, like you said.

 

Bravo...

 

The seller didn't consider the possibility that it isn't a British necklace. It is not British, but we don't know 'whodunnit' yet.
Still haven't found my buttons book. I checked some ethnic jewellery books which do have some buttons, but not this specific model.

I'll keep looking, it must be somewhere, but I have had to shift stuff after my basement was flooded. There were no books in the basement, but boxes of stuff are now blocking other boxes of stuff, as well as cabinet doors etc.

 

I am patient, will wait ❤️

 

These look awfully similar to the Swedish brooch just posted?

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/swedish-brooch-is-it-gold-or-gilt-who-is-the-maker.83072/

 

I hope it’s okay to post a link to an auction site. This is the Swedish Bukowski and sold some traditional Swedish buttons etc in 2016. Some look quite similar?

https://www.bukowskis.com/en/lots/8...amt-baltspanne-ca-41-mestadels-silver-allmoge

 

Not really, but they bear some similarity to the filigree buttons in the link @Finnclouds posted, third photo of the lot.
But again, not close enough to be a match. The cannetille ring near the top, instead of the twisted loops near the top on Simona's filligree buttons is too important a detail to dismiss.

 

The devil is in the details. And the difference between a googler like me and an expert.

 

That is just it, the often tiny detail.

I am by no means an expert, but I do collect regional/ethnic jewellery and I used to collect regional/ethnic costumes, so I come across silver buttons quite regularly. I also have some buttons and button jewellery in my collection.

 

Found the book!!!
Haven't found the buttons yet, but I am zoning in on Spain and Italy.
Unfortunately the photos in the book aren't very good quality, so it is quite a study.
If I find buttons that are close enough to the dangles, I'll take a photo and post it. It is evening here, so I hope you can wait a little longer.

 

And the photos!
There are two options, Spanish and Maltese. As the last text explains, the buttons as such are the same, only the toggle construction is different. Since your buttons don't have toggles, it is (almost) impossible to tell the difference.
The small size is used more in Malta, so that could be a clue.

Both Spanish and Maltese buttons have a connection with the UK. Malta was British for a while and the buttons were sold as souvenirs, and as it says in the first text, Spanish buttons were exported to the UK in great quantities for 19th century button jewellery.


From: A Collectors Guide to Peasant Silver Buttons, by Jane Perry.

 

I thought I was a perfectionist, but you button collectors are proving me wrong. Amazingly small details obviously matter! Would AJ mind telling me if there’s a huge difference in desirability, value etc based on the origin? Thanks, BTW, for adding a new word (cannetille) to my already overcrowded memory.