silver hair pin ("spadinn") - Italy
The 'sperada' is a silver ornamentation made by several pins forming a sunburst, threaded on the hairs
wrapped on a horizontal olive-topped pin.The 'sperada' was made of:
- a pin with two olives at its end, named 'spùntun' or 'gùggiun';
- many pointed pins, named 'spadinn', given by the fiancé to his betrothed (before betrothal the girls wore hair loose);
- some other pins, sometimes in the shape of a spoon, named 'fuseii' or 'spazzaùrecc', were the gift of the bridegroom on the marriage day and on other special occasions as the birth of a child.
There are few (or no) pieces of antique silver 'sperada' available for sale. The surviving pieces are a precious heritage preserved with close attention by families, folkloric groups and public institutions.
This is silver 'spadinn' decorated with a richly pierced top, bears the maker's mark of Banfi Gaetano (active in Milan, ...1837...1841... under the insignia of the 'Bunch of grapes'). The 'spadinn' has a later mark of the 'female head' used in the Kingdom of Italy for 800/1000 silver fineness in the period 1870/1935.
The mark of Banfi Gaetano is quoted (not illustrated) in V.Donaver-R.Dabbene, Punzoni degli Argentieri Milanesi dell'800, pag. 51
This 'spadinn' is 7 1/2 in. wide (cm. 19) and was bought from an UK dealer through the Internet.
This item is not for sale, but most of my pieces were bought through the Internet. In this page there are some links to silver and antique dealers websites
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