🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Found this today. I think it’s a knee buckle as the material in it is woven cloth. The buckle says W.H.L & Co. France. Any info on this ?

[Bullseye38661]

 

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[ncsuwolf]

Can you provide a bit of background? Where was it found (directional), type of location, and provide either measurements or something in the pic for scale?

Not knowing scale, my first guess would be suspender buckle

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Your find appears to be a pants-waist strap adjuster buckle. It was also used as a vest-waist adjuster. See the photos below. That specific type has been found marked with dates from the 1850s & 60s... so we do know for certain they go back that far. Of course they can be more recent. In fact, they are still being manufactured today. But yours is thin stamped-brass, with raised-lettering marking, and made in France, so I'd say yours dates from the 1850s-70s. The one in the closeup photo below has indented lettering (on the crossbar, saying "Make"), so it dates a bit later than ones which have ONLY raised lettering.

 

[The Rebel]

I've also seen those used on the back of vests for adjustment as well.