A silver-gilt and colored paste clasp, Transylvania, probably Brasov, circa 1630

with Galerie Kugel, Paris, 2007

For a closely similar clasp, see 'Schätze des Ungarischen Barock', exhibition catalogue, Deutsche Goldschmiedehaus, Hanau, 1991, cat. 151, p. 52. 

Also 'The Art of the Hungarian Goldsmith', The Bard Graduate Center, New York, 1994, cat. 120.

These huge round brooches, worn as clasps or as pendants, were characteristic of women’s dress in Transylvanian Saxony in the 17th and 18th centuries. They were known as Heftel, and were made in the workshops of the Transylvanian Saxon cities: Hermannstadt (Sibiu, Nagyszeben), or Kronstadt (Braşov, Brassó), also possibly Bistritz (Bistriţa, Beszterce), Mediasch (Mediaş, Medgyes), or Schäßburg (Sighişoara, Segesvár).