This pattern imitated a standard British army buckle that had been in use for decades. In fact, many were brought over through the blockade to be worn by Confederate soldiers and also a few Yankees courtesy of captured blockade runner cargo. Many, however, appear to be of southern manufacture and come in a wide variety. Turner and Harris published a book on the pattern, and we can recommend also the chapters on them by Mullinax and by Keim. They vary from the obviously robust to those looking surprisingly flimsy, perhaps for militia wear or a dress occasion without sword, and are usually made of brass, but occasionally, like this, of plated iron.

In this pattern the belt loops are flat on the reverse, but convex and given a rope or serrated pattern on the face, and the reverse of the loops have a central bar, around which the belt would actually wrap, allowing both sides of the oval loop face to be seen. While the back of the loops is flat, the snake is well formed on both sides. The snakes vary from the lifelike and threatening to somewhat friendlier looking versions with a distinctly ducklike head, noted by Keim and others. This certainly falls into that category.

A collector’s tag with this notes an identical example in Turner and Harris and who purportedly show picture of a soldier of the 45^th GA wearing one, though we do not have a copy of that book at hand. For a very close parallel see also Keim, Fig. 490, though he refers to that one as cast brass.  [jet][ph:L]

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