QAPSYRMA/ CLASPS

 

 

The function of the qapsyrma is to fasten the edges of the woman’s camisole at the waist and connect them at the level of the navel. As a rule, the item consists of two parts – platelets that remotely resemble the shape of a butterfly. These decorations were very carefully designed – there could be inlays in the form of stones, openwork patterns, bails, gilding, etc., which indicated the owner’s ability to pay.
 

This costume detail is not only an ornament and a “bonding”, but it also protected/marked the navel area (or the abdominal region in general) as a sacred part of the body

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