19th century A.D. A two-part bronze fastening plate from a sword-belt comprising two tongue-shaped panels, each with interlocking hinge knuckles, three bands of cloisonné enamelled floral ornament in green, yellow, white and blue, loop for attachment of a fine chain or thong; securing pin with poppy-head finial; two transverse attachment bars to the reverse to secure the ends of the leather or textile belt; one with impressed Cyrillic inscription '?CH7O / XP?CTO' (PSICHO / CHRISTO). See Kovacheva-Kostadinova, V., Sarafova M., Cherkezova M., Teneva, N., Traditional Bulgarian Costumes and Folk Arts. National Ethnographic Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, 1994; Radeva, A., Hristozova, L., Kableshkova, R., Semerdjieva, S., Yankov, A., Antonov, S., Manev, V., Ethnographic Museum Plovdiv, Plovdiv, 2004. 157 grams, 18 cm wide (7 in.). Acquired 1990s. From an important Paris gallery, France. Ex Parisian collection. Pafti (belt buckles) were a typical Balkan adornment, usually round or oval, mainly with floral ornamentation, but sometimes with mother-of-pearl appliqués of Jerusalem plates engraved with iconographic scenes. The Greek inscription means 'to the soul of Xristos'.