Here on offer is A very fine antique solid silver italain Late 'Emanuel II' period ornate 'sperada' ..a very rare and wonderful item specifically because this one is italian there being few (or no) pieces of antique silver 'sperada' available for sale as the surviving pieces are a precious heritage preserved with close attention by families, folkloric groups and public institutions...
Women put particular care into the style in which their hair is cut and arranged. The hairpin is a common adornment used to hold the hair together, especially at nape of the neck..In the Brianza (an area on the Northern Italy region of Lombardy) the use of this device has ancient origins and finds its roots in the numerous pins (spilloni) of the Bronze Age found in peat deposits and in the 'HASTA CAELIBARIS' or 'aghi crinali' (a thin needle enlarged at the top) found in many Ancient Roman graves...
A characteristic hair arrangement of Brianza women was the 'sperada', used also by Lucia Mondella, the feminine protagonist of the romance 'I Promessi sposi' (The Betrothed), masterpiece of the Italian writer Alessandro Manzoni, published in 1827..
The 'sperada' ceased to be used at the beginning of the 20th century and now it survives only to be worn in appropriate folkloric ceremonies.
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 'spentun' or 'geggiun';
- many pointed pins, named 'spadinn', given by the fiance to his betrothed (before betrothal the girls wore hair loose);
- some other pins, sometimes in the shape of a spoon, named 'fuseii' or 'spazzaerecc', were the gift of the bridegroom on the marriage day and on other special occasions as the birth of a child....
length: 18.7 cm
width (at spade end) : 22.7 cm
weight: 12 grammes
Please allow up to seven days for delivery of your goods as they will need to be properly packed and posted,if you have any problems regarding your item please do not hesitate to contact me,Thankyou!
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