Agraffe with fibre beard, 19th c.

Agraffe with fibre beard, 19th century, Sardinia. I-Padova, Istituto sperimentale della zoologia agraria, Sezione Specializzata per la Bachicoltura (MS Inventory 13)

Agraffe with fibre beard, 19th century, Sardinia. I-Padova, Istituto sperimentale della zoologia agraria, Sezione Specializzata per la Bachicoltura (MS Inventory 13).

Byssus beard, ca 13 cm long, set in a half moon of metal (probably brass), length without byssus ca 17,5 cm.

This agraffe – or is it a hatpin? – came together with collars and cuffs made of sea silk fur from Sardinia in the 19th century to the institute founded in 1871. The crescent is striking: Could it be an object for the Ottoman Empire, which existed until 1922?

The agraffe is illustrated on p. 976 in the detailed special edition of the chapter on sea silk by Ludwig Brühl (in: Die Rohstoffe des Tierreichs, vol. 1, 1932).