Framed within a border of spirals, a fantastical grouping of animals is depicted in profile on this belt buckle. The central figure is a deer with stylized antlers and mouth; sunken coils accentuate its musculature while echoing the tightly curled tail and the spirals in the border. Combined with the exaggerated proportions of its body, the overall effect is that of a rhythmically patterned decoration. A fish is located in the lower right corner, while a bird perches upon one of the deer’s rear hooves. The barking dog in the upper left suggests that the buckle might depict a hunt. A raised loop and hook on the reverse side would have affixed the buckle to a textile or leather backing.

The Gardner Museum’s belt buckle is closely related to objects excavated or discovered in Georgia and the Caucasus (in present-day Russia). Created as luxury items, such buckles may have drawn on earlier precedents crafted in gold or silver. The recurring appearance of deer in the material culture of the nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes stretching from the Black Sea to the steppes of Mongolia suggests that the animal had religious or totemic significance, as well as importance for the livelihood of these peoples.

Source: Michelle Wang, "Belt Buckle," in Eye of the Beholder, edited by Alan Chong et al. (Boston: ISGM and Beacon Press, 2003): 179.

Presented by Thomas Whittemore in 1920.