This is an attractive variation of the classic Confederate frame buckle that was lightweight, easy to make, practical and sturdy, with an eye toward function, if not always beauty. This one makes a nod in that direction, however: the two independent tongues are cast with flat bottoms, but with convex upper surfaces that were carefully finished, giving them a sculptural quality with the edge of the shanks nicely squared as they wrap around the center bar and the tongue then given a wasp-waist before flaring out again to taper into a long, straight point with beveled top edges and rounded tip.

The exterior of the frame was well finished, with some file marks evident on the inner and outer edges and good corners inside and out. On the reverse, the ends of the center bar were beveled, but less attention was paid to fine finishing, with clear signs of the sand casting process. The buckle has no damage to the frame or tongues. The tongues move freely, and the brass has a nice, even brownish-olive tone with some dusty, light green verdigris on the face of the lower bar and tongue, and lower half of the left side bar. It measures about 63.8mm by 92.2mm, corresponding roughly to the large-size forked-tongue or “wishbone” style frame buckles, a correspondence noted by Keim.

This buckle came from the collection of Greg Coco, author of several books on Gettysburg, and comes with a letter from him noting his acquisition of the buckle in 2019 with a verbal provenance of having come from a park ranger and that it had originally been found on the battlefield. The Gettysburg provenance is noted on a label on the reverse, along with the corresponding figure in Kerksis. These plates, like most of the frame style, were relatively easy to make and consequently widely produced and widely worn. We do note, however, an almost identical example with Gettysburg provenance pictured by Keim as Figure 429 in his “Confederate General Service Accoutrement Plates.”

This is a scarce variant and rather attractive example of this classic Confederate pattern. [sr][ph:m/L]

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