Benjamin Cooper was a silver bucklemaker in Brownlow Street, Holborn.
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He obviously had at least one overseas customer, as the letter given below shows the customer complaining that the buckles he'd been sent , and was returning, were out of fashion in his country !
The letter, from the Brothers MOIANA dated 3 November 1767, was sent to " Mr B Cooper , Silver Buckle Maker in Browlow Street near Bedford row Houlborne". Town of the letter's origin is given - but not readable. There is a bishopmark of the London Foreign Branch of NO/7 (November 7 ) so would have come from somewhere in Europe having taken 3 or 4 days to travel to England.
Probably from the name Moiana this was from Italy.
Letter advises the return of 82 buckles in a box sent separately, and complains ,"'the fashion here is oval shape". These buckles appear to be part of an ongoing contract between Cooper and the Moiana Brothers in Italy .
There are several points of interest to buckle freaks like myself.
I've previously noticed that there was a change in England from rectilinear or shouldered buckles to more oval shapes in the 1756 - 1770 period. My own guess, for there's no dateletters pre 1773 , that the change in England was around 1760 - 65 . The fashion reverted to rectilinear again around 1780
Buckles were described as setts for men but as pairs for women,the majority being for men. Obviously there was a differentiation made between buckles for female and male use. Except perhaps by size no-one today can guess what it was !
The words "setts" and "pairs" make me feel that perhaps "sett" meant a set of both shoe and knee buckles for men, and "pair " was for a pair of shoe buckles only, as women did not wear breeches which needed knee buckles.
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Letter to Benjamin Cooper 3 November 1767
Antique & vintage paperwork relating to the silver trade
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