Belt Buckle

1100s-1200s

Belt Buckle, 1100s-1200s. Korea, Goryeo period (918-1392). Gilt bronze; diameter: 5 cm (1 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1917.1023 Metallurgy advanced remarkably in the Goryeo period (918-1392), explaining why a large quantity of sophisticated metal artifacts with delicate designs were used not only as daily accessories but also as burial goods. Once coated in brilliant gold, belt buckles like this one were fixed to leather belts. The Japanese antique dealer Yamanaka & Company, which opened its branches in New York (1895) and Boston (1899), sold small Korean archaeological materials such as this belt buckle to American collectors in the early 20th century.