Milleuna Buckle

The history of buckles is fascinating and long, a tale of functional jewellery that dates back to antiquity and was an indispensable complement to the most original looks. Even today, the buckles are used by the most renowned fashion houses. The exhibition organised at the Bijou Museum is an authentic celebration of this history, thanks to one of the most important collections in the world, from Enrico and Paola Pennasilicotogether with pieces from the museum itself.

The event, promoted by the Municipality of Casalmaggiore (under the patronage of Padania Foods), takes the form of a fascinating visual journey covering a period from the 18th century in the middle of the Twentieth century. The exhibition presents a variety of models of bucklesfrom shoes to belts, from trousers to capes and hats, which have always represented fundamental indicators of social status. These pieces have always been at the forefront of aesthetic, technological and material innovations, illustrating how the buckles have followed the evolution of taste and fashion, intertwining customs, art and jewellery.

The curatorship of this extraordinary exhibition is entrusted to the jewellery historian and critic, Bianca Hattogether with Samuel Magri, lecturer in History of Art and History of Fashion at public and private institutions.

The exhibition is a gallery of extraordinary pieces, selected from the prestigious collection Pennasilicowhich numbers thousands of specimens and has been built up over decades of passionate research. The collection boasts buckles of great value, together with small curiosities and pieces of absolute originality: ranging from the Rococo buckles from shoe of the Eighteenth century in antimony and rhinestones, to large, geometric buckles bakelite from the era Decoto masterpieces of goldsmith's art and sinuous buckles from the naturalistic forms of theArt Nouveau.