| "Although many of the buckles made around 1900 are quite stylized, some makers exhibited a very modern design orientation. One such piece is this round buckle by Howard & Cockshaw Co. of New York City, active about 1904. Handworked and with a closed back, it incorporates typical arts & crafts materials such as the center-mounted blister pearl and colored stones. But the design is abstract, suggesting swirling waves, and the stones and the pearl are set in handworked scallop-shaped mountings that are part of the piece, rather than set into it or soldered onto it. The silver has been gilded and the surface is rough rather than smooth, accentuating the abstract quality. " |
