Gesp c. 1908 - 1911

This belt buckle, or ‘Gesp’ as it’s known, was made by Lodewijk Willem van Kooten II. I’m really drawn to the way the artist uses these little bursts of dark ink to accentuate the silver. It's like he's drawing with light and shadow in a really intricate way. Looking at the black flourishes around the edge, you can tell that this wasn’t about making something perfect, but about the pleasure of the process, the hand moving and decorating this functional item. The central stone, a kind of pale purple, sits in the middle like a watchful eye. See how it's framed with all these tiny dots? The texture of the metal has these soft hammer marks too; it’s not trying to be slick or machine-made, but something lovingly handmade. Artists like Gustav Klimt come to mind, with their love for ornamentation and detail. It's like the artist is speaking to us through the materials, whispering that art is everywhere.