Belt buckle

The belt ornament (Indonesian:pending) is a popular accessory in the Malay world. It was usually made by Peranakan (emigrant, assimilated) Chinese jewellers, but the clientele was not limited to this community, as it was as much a part of Javanese costume as of the people of Chinese Malaysian colonies living in the Malay Peninsula or Singapore (the former British colony, called the Straits Settlements). An ornately decorated pending made of silver represented the wealth of its wearer as a status symbol.


This object in the picture is presumably from Java and is one of the simpler pending polo-type belt ornament with its delicate floral garlands appearing only at the edges and its discreet rosette. The object was purchased by Ferenc Hopp in Siam.