A Very Heavy Pair of 19th Century Portuguese Solid Silver Arm Bracelets

This interesting rare and very substantial pair of heavy silver arm bracelets are of Portuguese manufacture and were made for the West African market where this type of jewellery was often made in heavy metals and used as currency or as a status symbol. These early examples are in the style of Manilla or slave bangles and have been made to a traditional plain design with a simple thick band of heavy silver enhanced with punched decoration and finished with large geometric shaped ends. They are each over 4 ounces in weight making them heavy pieces. They both show signs of a lot of use as the deep decoration is quite worn in places. Each bangle has early silver marks which seem to be Portuguese from my research. The bangles could be earlier with later marks as they do appear from the wear to be very old. Tested silver.

Portugal was heavily involved with the slave trade in West Africa in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

The weight of each bracelet is 122 grams of silver and 127 grams of silver.

Sizes approximately

Height 1.2cm x width 10cm x depth 9cm

£680

Robert Belcher Antiques was established in 1984 and is a high-quality retailer of interesting, rare antiques and decorative objects. After forty years of shop keeping and maintaining beautiful showrooms, which have been regularly open six days a week, Robert and Wendy have now taken a slightly different approach to their business. Having sold their retail premises, the antique business is now fully online. The picture framing service has ceased to operate because of moving online.

You can contact Robert and Wendy by email or telephone to discuss items from their extensive catalogue of attractive pieces and make purchases. Customers can rest assured that the long-established dealership is continuing to run in an exceedingly professional way, selling genuine and high-quality items which are guaranteed to please the most discerning collector, decorator or homeowner.

All items will be personally hand packaged to a high standard. Small items are extensively wrapped using the best materials and are often double boxed. Items are then shipped with DHL or Royal Mail fully insured and often with next day delivery. Larger items would be personally delivered or sent with a specialist antique delivery firm, or for outside the U.K, a professional shipping company.

Please enjoy viewing their collection of rare and interesting pieces and have the assurance that Robert and Wendy will do their utmost to make sure your experience is exceptional, as has been recognised by many customers who have bought with confidence regularly over the years.

Contact details

Email: robertbelcherantiques@gmail.com

Telephone: 01905 622468

Mobile 07929 011224

07720 607007

Website: https://www.robertbelcherantiques.co.uk

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