TTO 345 Cut Steel Buckle on Canvas An early example of cut steel work. Possibly early Victorian or late Regency period. The buckle is quite elaborate and would be for a belt rather than a shoe judging by the size. The buckle is stitched to a buckram canvas backing. There is some damage to the buckle with some of the cut steel missing, but this is a rare and early piece, so the price reflects both age and condition. The buckle measures 3 3/8th by 3 inches and costs £45. The characteristic of items now known as "cut steel jewellery" is the use of steel studs set into a backing plate (by screws or rivets). Most commonly the studs are facetted but other shapes, such as crescents, vesica and frustra are also used. Perhaps the items now most commonly found, and originally produced in the greatest numbers, are shoe buckles. Steel jewellery was not a cheap substitute for precious stones and certainly not for the paste imitations which were widely used. It is sometimes said that you used steel shoe buckles to walk the muddy streets and then took them off and replaced them with something more valuable when your carpeted destination was reached. This is not really the case. Although steel jewellery doubtless came in all price brackets it was fashionable and prized in its own right - and it could be very expensive.