A SMALL COLLECTION OF ANTIQUE SILVER
AND OBJECTS OF VERTU
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.
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