General Oglethorpe Shoe Buckles, ca. 1740
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GUEST:
These shoe buckles were presented by General Oglethorpe to one of my ancestors during his wedding back around 1735 to 1745. General Oglethorpe had them made in England. He carried the conch shells back to England and had the purple insides cut out in order to make the flowers, and then they were soldered on with a gold top and riveted with silver.
APPRAISER:
In the 1740s, this was exactly the style that was used, this very large buckle. General Oglethorpe came here in 1733, and really started this as a colony. And everything that he touched really would have special significance. It's wonderful that you have a written genealogy of your family. When was this done?
GUEST:
Around 1940.
APPRAISER:
1940. And here it's a wonderful documentation of the buckles. Every family would love to have something like this to be able to show the provenance on their pieces. The kind of value that these would have as period pieces from the 18th century would be about $3,000. But added to the fact that this is something that Oglethorpe actually owned and handed down in your family and is listed in your genealogy, this would be worth about $10,000.
GUEST:
Oh, my goodness.
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