Vintage Balkan Filigree Buttons from Bosnia Silver and Coral

A beautifully crafted pair of buttons or cufflinks from Bosnia from the early part of the twentieth century. Silver filigree work has been famed for at least 5 centuries in the Balkans with centres for this fine work in Bosnia and Croatia.  This form of silversmithing takes infinite amounts of patience and involves bending fine silver wire into a variety of shapes and assembling the pieces to make a myriad of objects.  The craft was passed on from father to son and because of the labor intensive nature of this work, it is a dying tradition as younger generations shun the work of their ancestors in favour of more lucrative professions.

This beautiful specimen of this type of work however has been preserved. The globes are made of two filigree domes adorned with a small coral and some granules of silver.  The part that fits into the shirt on the other end is also worked in filigree.  They are in fine vintage condition

The length of the cufflinks is 3 cm (1 1/4") and width is about 1.2 cm (1/2").  Weight is 6.8 grams.